Microsoft Office Professional 2010 What Microsoft

Some think Microsoft is being coy about its slate ideas. Others simply feel the company is becoming clueless. I think the Redmondians are planting decoys, hoping they;ll give cover for missteps.Right here;s my most recent theory regarding what;s going on, regarding Microsoft and its remedy for slates (or lack thereof). More than the past couple of months, Microsoft execs have gone from stating Apple;s iPad is nothing but a crippled Computer,Windows 7 Pro Product Key, to claiming that Microsoft and its partners have myriad iPad opponents able to launch any day now. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said there;d be Windows seven slates out in time for holiday 2010. And at the latest Computex conference,Windows 7 Ultimate Key, Microsoft execs crowed in regards to the a large number of Windows slates due to launch this drop.If any of those slates had been truly true iPad rivals, Microsoft would be only considerably late to the slate celebration. This isn;t the case (creating me happier by the day that I made the decision to obtain an iPad to use as my on-the-go mobile gadget, instead of awaiting my longed-for “WinPad.”)The “Windows slates” Microsoft showed at Computex aren;t running Windows 7; they;re running Windows Embedded Compact. That means they aren;t going to be capable to run Windows 7 apps and won;t sport the Windows seven user interface. Rather,Microsoft Office Professional 2010, each of those Embedded Compact slates will feature its own custom interface.Meanwhile, the Windows seven slates coming in time for this vacation season are going to be business-focused products. (HP execs admitted this recently, noting their coming Slate 500 device will be for organization users. If there are other Windows 7 slates prepared to start this drop, I;d expect they also will be business-focused devices. These models will be PCs without lids; tablets without the stylus. They won;t have the long battery life, touch-centric user interfaces or built-in app store capabilities that have built the iPad a success.Microsoft;s real iPad rivals aren;t going to debut until 2011 — I;d guess mid-2011 at best. Ballmer didn;t state this plainly at last week;s Microsoft Finanacial Analyst Meeting,Windows 7 Activation Key, but he dropped some hefty hints. Ballmer touted Intel;s Oak Trail processors as becoming key to Microsoft;s iPad alaternatives. The problem is Oak Trail chips aren;t heading to be prepared until “early 2011.” Once Pc makers get them in hand, it will take them at a few quarters to build and test slates that use them.I;m curious as to whether Microsoft will continue to try to steer its partners to make use of Windows seven as the operating system powering these slates. My guess, as I told TechFlash;s Todd Bishop last week, is Microsoft may relent and allow slate makers to make use of the touch-centric Windows Phone OS 7 on these devices. (Microsoft could still claim that these slates were running “Windows,Windows 7 Activation,” since it is creating sure to brand all of its operating systems as “Windows.”)Bottom line: “WinPads” are still about a year away, I;m predicting. Expect Microsoft execs to downplay the coming Windows Embedded Compact slates and start acknowledging that this year;s Windows 7 slates are business-centric devices. Rather than risking another Kin debaucle (launching then pulling a misguided product at terrific cost), Microsoft is rethinking its answer to the iPad. Better late than lame….