Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is gearing up to preview its "Windows operating system designed for tablet computers" in demonstrations next week, according to a new report from Bloomberg that cites three people knowledgeable about the company's plans. Microsoft will apparently showcase its new touch-screen interface on hardware powered by Nvidia's Tegra chip.

This comes in the wake of earlier remarks by Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer, who declared early this week that Windows 8 will be launched in 2012. He reportedly said: "As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8. Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors." It appears that Ballmer may have gotten ahead of himself, however. His remarks were retracted on late Monday afternoon by a Microsoft spokesperson who wrote: "It appears there was a misstatement."

With the new report in mind, my conjecture is that Ballmer may have mixed up the new tablet-friendly capabilities being melded into Windows 7 with the ARM-friendly Windows 8--which will certainly be tablet-friendly too. I continue to believe that Windows 8 will likely be released in 2012, though it remains to be seen if Microsoft will try to incorporate its new touch interface into Windows 7 as part of a service pack.

For more:
- check out this article at Bloomberg
- check out this article at InformationWeek
- check out this article at Wired

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