The Windows Tablet

After multiple false starts over the years, the first meaningful tablet play from Microsoft was formally announced this week. It borrows heavily from its well-intended but not so successful (not yet atleast) Metro UI for the Windows Phone 7 platform. Microsoft is betting the farm on this design, so much so, even their analyst day presentations used it.Windows 8 is expected to be a singular experience across multiple device form factors- from phones to tablets  to PCs. And it is build from the ground up for touch. It shares it DNA with Windows Phone 7. The tablet offering was previewed this week to developers and press on multiple platforms. Microsoft until now has been primarily built for WinTel platforms and extended to AMD processor based PCs. This is the first time that the OS is built for non-traditional mobile central platforms like Nvidia's Tegra and the extremely pervasive ARM platform for smartphones. MS demonstrated Windows 8 on prototype tablets on each of these platforms- Tegra 3 (Kal-El), ARM, AMD Fusion and of course, Intel. Not to be left out, it was also shown running on a traditional laptop. The demonstration underscores the burgeoning and PC-eclipsing popularity of smartphones and tablets and Microsoft's commitment to it- albeit a little later than Google and Apple.Microsoft also acknowledged the need of dedicated App Stores (something it currently has for its Windows Phone 7 platform) from the start by announcing a Windows 8 App store.  In all, Microsoft has tried to correct all its mistakes from the past in one fell swoop. Its an all-in play that will be closely watched for its success. Have no doubts- Windows 8 is going to be their next OS and will hit hundreds of millions of laptops and desktops eventually. The question is if that inspires more developers and consumers of its tablet and smartphone offerings- something that cannot be taken for granted.Windows 8 is expected to challenge Android and iOS as the development and consumed platform of choice across the entire spectrum of devices. Microsoft promises and to a certain degree demonstrated real PC apps running on Intel's Core i5 and i7 based tablets. Some believe that this will usher in the real post-PC era where we get to run our PC apps on the tablet- something that Android and iOS don't do. Android and iOS are betting that mobile specific apps - native or web-apps will dominate the future touch experience and their popularity reaffirms it. Microsoft is betting that there will be a market- a big one- for running traditional PC apps on tablet platforms. This is an intriguing battle that will play out over the next couple of years.In my opinion, this is the first fully fleshed out attempt by Microsoft to acknowledge and combat the Android and iOS threat at its PC dominance. Until now, Microsoft was comfortable fighting them on the non-PC front via smartphones. But their aggressive growth at the cost of its PCs is starting to hurt them and such a unified reply to the threat was needed. From that standpoint, good move from the Redmond giant. I believe this is the right step at this time- one that should have happened a year ago but it is not too late. Now that all the eggs are in the same basket, MS needs to deliver a robust and exciting platform that lures developers, old and new to build applications for it. That alone will guarantee its success. And lots of marketing too.In the meantime, if you want to play with Windows 8, a very early developers preview build is available here and early hands-on experiences here.