The problem with Windows 7 tablets: they still run Windows

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and cohorts drew some major applause at CES by showing off new tablets running Windows 7, and for good reason. New devices from Acer, ASUS and Samsung are sleek and have innovative form factors, for example dual screens and slide-out keyboards. But the advances can largely be attributed to the good work of Microsoft's hardware partners. The problem with Windows tablets is that they still run Windows.

That's not to say Windows can't be adapted to the tablet age. Microsoft would argue that the devices shown off at CES this week prove Windows 7 is tablet-ready, but analysts aren't necessarily ready to agree.

The issue, says Aberdeen Group research analyst Andrew Borg, is that Microsoft is still using pre-iPad thinking.


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Microsoft's comfort zone is with what we might call Tablets 1.0, which were based on stylus and 'digital-ink' interaction, and used a unipoint (not multi-touch) touchscreen interface," Borg wrote during the course of a few e-mails we've exchanged since Ballmer's keynote last night. "Apple's iOS replaced that metaphor once and forever (call it Tablets 2.0) with gesture-based interaction on a multi-touch touchscreen interface. It's fundamentally a different use case: the first assumes the presence of a keyboard along with the stylus which simply replaces the mouse or pointer; the second doesn't replicate the traditional computer desktop or laptop metaphor, it replaces it."

Let's give credit to Microsoft where credit is due. There was a real "wow factor" when they demonstarted prototypes of tablets coming out within the next few months, and it shows that Microsoft is working closely with hardware partners to get some cool devices into the hands of consumers. Samsung, for example, is coming out with Windows 7-based tablets that have a slide-out keyboard, and ASUS has a standalone tablet with a Bluetooth keyboard. The ASUS device will use a combination of stylus and finger-based touch, and will be able to tell the difference between the stylus and your hand.

Most visually striking, in my opinion, is the Acer ICONIA, which has two 14-inch touch screens that can both be used for Web surfing and all the other stuff you'd do with a Windows tablet. But one of its coolest features is also a reminder that Windows 7 is still much more a desktop than a tablet operating system.