Microsoft unveils plans to counter the iPad in 2011

Everyone knows that the public position of Microsoft in response to questions about the Apple tablet sounds like “What is an iPad?” In fact, the Redmond team is preparing their partners for the battle in 2011. The corporation has presented to its reseller partners marketing materials that will help them fight against the invasion of the iPad on the corporate market.

The PowerPoint presentation, which fell into the hands of journalists, is dated December 2010 and clarifies what Microsoft is offering its partners as part of a strategy to promote Microsoft tablets for business users. It contains links to the next version of the Microsoft operating system (Windows Next or Windows 8), which will be the first Windows that the corporation optimizes for tablet computers. Strange, but there are no links to Windows Phone OS, which, according to many, even in the current edition, should and can become a much better operating system for tablets than regular Windows.

The materials contain information on how the "software giant" sets up and trains partners to position tablet computers running Windows 7 against the iPad. It also contains specific proposals on how to sell tablets to business users who have already become owners of the iPad and those who have not yet joined the army of users of Apple products.

It can be seen that the company conducted a lot of research in attempts to capture some part of the tablet market. In particular, Microsoft tried to learn more from end users about what they need in their work; about the shortcomings of the iPad from their owners; about the goals and objectives of corporate users and included the collected data in the presentation. Part of the description slides can be seen here .

Microsoft and its partners are forced to show increased activity, as the expansion of the iPad is in full swing, and there are more and more tablets running other operating systems. In a recent report, Apple said it sold 7.3 million iPad tablets in the last quarter. According to Apple, 80 percent of Fortune 100 companies (the list of the top 100 companies for work) already use their tablets at work or try to use it as part of pilot projects. And if you consider the iPad a full-fledged computer, then Apple by the results of sales becomes the second largest supplier of personal computers in the world in the world after HP.

via Slashdot