May 3, 2010

by Darren Allan

The latest buzz about the HP Slate, one of the most talked about potential rivals for the iPad, is that the tablet won’t be carrying Windows 7.

The Slate was actually unveiled by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at CES back in January, as part of his opening keynote.

But the grapevine says that HP has made a decision that Windows 7 is just too power hungry for its Slate.

So TechCrunch reports, suggesting that the Slate may actually go the way of Microsoft’s Courier last week, and end up binned. It will almost certainly be delayed, at the very least.

Other rumours are circling around the net regarding HP’s purchase of Palm, which has just gone through. Might we see a WebOS powered Slate?

This way, HP would save money on having to pay to license an operating system. Well, aside from the fact that it has cost them a small fortune to buy Palm, of course, but there will presumably be other benefits beyond this.

HP hasn’t yet commented on any of this speculation, but we’ll keep our ears open, and let you know if we hear anything.

Story link: HP Slate wiped clean of Windows 7