At this point, the only thing keeping Microsoft in the tablet conversation are rumors of its Windows 8 or Windows Next, and lo and behold we’ve got another one to add to the pile. While we heard last week that Microsoft could release the beta of Windows 8 for tablets at PDC in September, “sources at Microsoft” have now told Business Insider, that the company is hoping to show a public “design demo” of the operating system’s tablet UI as early as June. The timing is interesting — and it actually lines up very well with Computex, where the company does have a big presence — but we’re also intrigued by the part that says Microsoft’s taking “a more Apple-like approach to interface design” and that it will use Metro UI pieces. That’s obviously similar to what Microsoft showed us at last year’s Computex (picture of that above) — except it was using Windows Embedded Compact 7 underneath. The article also mentions that it will draw on some Media Center-like styling, which also syncs up with some other whispers we’ve heard. Yep, there’s a lot of rumors, and well, with this talk of summer / fall it looks like we’ll be dealing with plenty more before we hear anything official.
Microsoft to demo Windows 8 tablet interface in June? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 22:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
