Microsoft to Demo Tegra-based Tablet Next Week

Although it's only been a few days since Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told
the audience at the 2011 Japanese Microsoft Developers Conference that his
company would not be releasing Windows 8 until 2012 (a statement that
Microsoft later retracted), Bloomberg Businessweek reports that the company
will preview an early version of its new, tablet-centric OS as soon as next
week.

Bloomberg cites three anonymous sources familiar with Microsoft's plans that
say the company will display a touchscreen tablet running on NVIDIA's
ARM-based Tegra chip. Windows President Steven Sinofsky will present at the
All Things D conference, and VP Steve Guggenheimer will appear at Computex
in Taipei, according to Bloomberg.

Microsoft representatives declined comment, but Ballmer hinted at the
newfound urgency in a speech in New Delhi: "We are in a race," he reportedly
said. "We are not doing that badly, frankly. We are doing pretty well in
that race. But the race is on to continue to push Windows to a variety of
new form factors."

While the new OS will not be available until next year, "the company is
eager to show it is moving forward, seeking to generate demand among
computer makers and chip suppliers," Bloomberg's Ian King and Dina Bass
write.