Microsoft to release a tablet OS in 2012

(PhysOrg.com) -- Microsoft has finally decided to join the tablet OS market. Following in the grand tradition of Kinect (motion controls for video games, which came out after the Nintendo Wii sported them) and Zune (MP3 players, which came out after Apple's family of iPods was already on the path to market domination) the company is coming late to the market, joining both Apple and Google with a new tablet operating system, but not until 2012.

There are several Windows 7-based tablets already on the market, put out by third party hardware makers, but none of them have made much of an impact on the tablet market, in either sales or new features. Some of this may have to do with the fact that Windows 7 OS is not really designed to work with the finger-based inputs of tablets, which puts it at a significant disadvantage when you consider that both Apple's iOS and Google’s Honeycomb were actually designed with tablet users in mind.

There are some rumors that the new tablet OS will come out the same time as Windows 8, which is also expected to have a 2012 release date, but there is no conformation of this at this time. Though recent reports of a tablet-optimized beta version of Windows 8 coming in September have bolstered these claims. The final version is expected to be released in time for the back-to-school season.

By the time this tablet comes to market it will not only have to compete with slew of Android-based tablets, but the newest model of RIM’s PlayBook tablets, and the possibly even an iPad 3. Joining an already crowded market will not be an easy task, and the lackluster success of the adoption of Windows 7 phones shows that Microsoft will have to learn from its mistakes and come out with some strong partnerships if they want to have a successful device in the market.

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