Ballmer: Windows 7 tablets to be 'seen' by Christmas

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer promised Windows 7-powered slates will be seen by consumer by Christmas, in an appearance before an audience of students, staff and journalists at the London School of Economics on Tuesday. He did not go so far as promise they will be on sale, however.

Ballmer said,

"You'll see new slates with Windows on them. You'll see them this Christmas. Certainly we have done work around the tablet as both a productivity device and a consumption device."

You'll note that Ballmer continues to call them slates, instead of tablets, as most have begun doing. At this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, Ballmer showed off an HP tablet computer running Windows 7. However, that device seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth, with no mention of it since HP acquired Palm and its webOS platform in April for $1.2 billion. Although HP says it still plans Windows tablets, it seems mostly focused on webOS tablets.

Ballmer received only 50 percent of his possible bonus after Microsoft's fiscal year 2010, which ended in June. Reasons given by the board of directors included both issues in the mobile market, as well as problems with new form factor hardware (meaning tablets).