Office 2010 Standard What Microsoft isn't saying a

Some believe Microsoft is being coy about its slate options. Others just believe the corporation is being clueless. I think the Redmondians are planting decoys, hoping they;ll offer cover for missteps.Here;s my most recent idea regarding what;s heading on,Office Home And Business 2010 Key, concerning Microsoft and its answer for slates (or lack thereof). More than the previous few months,Microsoft Office 2007, Microsoft execs have gone from stating Apple;s iPad is nothing but a crippled Pc,Office 2007 License, to claiming that Microsoft and its partners have myriad iPad opponents ready to launch any day now. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer mentioned there;d be Windows seven slates out in time for holiday 2010. And in the latest Computex conference, Microsoft execs crowed in regards to the a lot of Windows slates as a result of start this drop.If any of those slates had been truly accurate iPad competitors, Microsoft could be only fairly late to the slate party. This isn;t the case (making me happier through the day that I decided to acquire an iPad to make use of as my on-the-go mobile gadget, rather than waiting for my longed-for “WinPad.”)The “Windows slates” Microsoft showed at Computex aren;t running Windows seven; they;re running Windows Embedded Compact. That means they aren;t going to be able to run Windows seven apps and won;t sport the Windows 7 user interface. Instead, each of these Embedded Compact slates will feature its own custom interface.Meanwhile, the Windows 7 slates coming in time for this vacation season are heading to be business-focused products. (HP execs admitted this recently, noting their coming Slate 500 gadget will be for enterprise users. If there are other Windows 7 slates prepared to start this fall,Office 2010 Home And Business Key, 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 crafted the iPad a success.Microsoft;s real iPad opponents aren;t heading 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, but he dropped some hefty hints. Ballmer touted Intel;s Oak Trail processors as being key to Microsoft;s iPad alaternatives. The problem is Oak Trail chips aren;t heading to be ready until “early 2011.” Once Computer 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 use Windows 7 as the operating system powering these slates. My guess, as I told TechFlash;s Todd Bishop last week,Office 2010 Standard, 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,” since it is generating 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. In place of risking another Kin debaucle (launching then pulling a misguided product at great cost), Microsoft is rethinking its answer to the iPad. Better late than lame….