Hasta La Gadget!

Most of the tablets released in 2011 will be Android-based, but a few stalwarts are sticking with Windows.

We recently got a closer look at two tablets shown off in Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s CES 2011 keynote: The Acer Iconia and the Asus Eee Slate EP121. Together, they show the potential — and the limitations — of a Windows-based tablet strategy.

It’s not that surprising to see Windows tablets, given that computer makers have been making them since 2001. In a sense, the Tablet PC never went away.

But in another respect, these tablets show just how wrong-headed Microsoft’s plan to use Windows for everything is. The company recently announced plans to create versions of Windows for ARM-based processors like the Qualcomm Snapdragon and Nvidia Tegra 2, which are found in a lot of upcoming tablets and high-end smartphones.

Microsoft division president Steven Sinofsky, speaking at CES last week, pointed to a convergence between the hardware requirements for Windows (the desktop OS) and most smartphones. Windows 7 requires no more resources than its predecessors, Windows Vista (in fact, slightly less) and he anticipates that its hardware requirements will remain level. Meanwhile, smartphones are gaining features previously found only in PCs: dual-core processors, gigabytes of RAM, heavy-duty graphics-processing capabilities.

“This convergence is pretty interesting to us as we think about the next generation of Windows,” Sinofsky said.

But the hardware convergence is only part of the story. The fact is, the Windows interface is not designed for touchscreens, a fact that was immediately obvious after spending a few minutes with the Asus and Acer tablets.

Above: The Acer Iconia is an unusual, dual-screen laptop. Its design echoes that of last year’s twin-screen Toshiba Libretto, except the Acer has two 14-inch displays, making it a full-size notebook.