No, I don't believe MS will make any serious software effort to port their own apps to an interface suitable for tablets. Including all their major products, and Windows tools. They will be functional on it but not feel as right as, say, iOS apps.

And I don't think any developers not specifically paid by MS will port their products to Windows-ARM, or port Wp7 apps to feel right on desktops or tablets beyond the just-functional automatic method MS will put in to make them run. It'll feel like running DOS or Java applets.

I think it'll be like touchscreen integration on W7: cute for some shiny tech demos, forgotten about and used by no one six months after launch.

I agree that is what they should do if they are serious.

Even if MS don't, and I think they will, there are still a ton of developers out there ready to make money off of any W8 tablets, and I think there will be enough for W8 to do well. The fact that W8 has an actual tablet interface means it will be used rather than forgotten soon after launch I think.

But time will tell I guess.

Excellent! But since it's MS we're talking about, let me see it before I believe it!   

It is time you move off of Win XP. Win 7  is far superior. As for Windows 8 on ARM running existing applications MS has said that Intel was speculating and that is all.

If it supports my HW and SW, and it leaves more free RAM for SW, XP is the best Windows for me.

Seems like they've taken Windows 7 and given it two interfaces: One for conventional apps and another for HTML5 touch apps. The result seems schizophrenic to me. If I'm making a Win 8 app, do I design it for a touch interface and mobile ARM processor, or do I design it for keyboard and mouse and a beefy Intel CPU? Do I have to design it twice?

Another challenge is the portability to ARM. From what I understand, apps made in managed code such as .NET and Silverlight will move right over with little effort. But most of the really powerful Windows apps are unmanaged code, which will take a lot of work to rebuild for ARM. Don't expect to be using Photoshop on your Windows 8 tablet anytime soon.

There are some good ideas here. I like the tiles and the split keyboard mode. I just think MS might have been better off extending WinPho 7 into a tablet OS than slapping a Windows Phone paint job over Windows 7 and calling it a tablet OS. Tablet users will get an OS billed as being "full Windows" which can't actually run everything a Windows desktop can, and the apps it can run may not be optimized for touch. Desktop users will get a bunch of UI chrome designed for touch use before they run off into the familiar Win 7 "ghetto."

Both AMD and Intel are making chipsets for tablets, so don't expect W8 tablets to be ARM only.

That's a really sleek looking interface...if you have a touchscreen monitor or a tablet. 

I believe people have been saying this since XP came around.

That doesn't really help the consumer confusion, though.

I got the cheaper Windows tablet with better battery life, but why won't it run Creative Suite? Stan's tablet runs it, but the battery only lasts three hours.