Ballmer: We’re Coming “Full Guns” After iPad

Today, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told a group of financial analysts that his company is hard at work “turning” Windows 7 for a massive new raft of consumer tablets. “We’re coming full guns,” he told the group. “The operating system is called Windows.”

Ballmer admitted that Apple has first-mover advantage in this nascent market, but that his company will overcome iOS on tablets like it swept away Linux on netbooks. “Just like we had to make things happen on netbooks, we have to with Windows 7 on slates. We’re in the process of doing that as we speak,” he said.

Exactly what Microsoft is doing remains a mystery. We know that a number of vendors already have Windows 7 tablets on the market or coming to market, the dual-screen Toshiba Libretto W100 for example. But it sounds like Ballmer’s”full guns” initiative refers to substantive changes in the OS that will make it more tablet-friendly and usher in a new generation of devices. Could Redmond be coming out with a new version of Windows 7 just for slates or adding a few touch-friendly features via a service pack?

Though many have criticized Windows 7 as too “heavy” for slates, the operating system has a huge ecosystem of software and hardware that gives it a lot more functionality than iOS. Pointing out one strength, Ballmer said that “When you get your Windows 7 machine, it will print. Some people actually like to print every now and then.”

While he wouldn’t give precise timing on this new-generation of tablets, Ballmer did say that some will show up later this year and others will take advantage of Intel’s upcoming Oak Trail low-power processor when that CPU debuts in 2011. We’ll be waiting, fingers drawn.

via CNET and PC World