Microsoft: Asus, Dell, Lenovo, Samsung on board for Windows RT

Computerworld - Microsoft today said that Windows RT, the spin-off of Windows 8, has been completed and will power ARM processor-equipped tablets and PCs from Asus, Dell, Lenovo and Samsung.

The Redmond, Wash. company had earlier announced that its own Surface RT tablet, based on Windows RT, will ship Oct. 26, the day Windows 8 is set to go on sale.

Some of the OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) listed by Microsoft as Windows RT partners had earlier publicly revealed designs or said they would deliver hardware based on the new operating system. Others not named by Microsoft, including Toshiba and Acer, had also announced plans previously.

In a post on the "Building Windows 8" blog Monday, Mike Angiulo, the vice president of Microsoft's ecosystem and planning team, declined to go into specifics of each OEM's planned products -- he left that for the vendors to do themselves closer to the October launch of Windows 8 and Windows RT -- but he did spell out some specification ranges for the new hardware.

The upcoming devices will include both tablets and laptops, and run the gamut of form factors. "Some of our Windows RT PCs come with full keyboard and touchpad solutions, whether removable/dockable or a traditional clamshell," Angiulo said.

According to Angiulo, some of the new Windows RT devices will be up to 11% thinner than Apple's iPad, and weigh 20% less than the Cupertino, Calif. company's iconic tablet.

Others will be considerably larger, with the top of the scale 84% heavier than the iPad -- 2.64 lbs. was the mass leader -- and at sixth-tenths of an inch, 66% thicker.

Screens sizes will range from 10.1- to 11.6-in., said Angiulo, which would give them all more real estate -- but not necessarily pixels, since he did not offer information on the resolution of those displays -- than the iPad's 9.7-in. screen.

Microsoft's own Surface RT will boast a 10.6-in. display.

Angiulo, keeping to Microsoft's secrecy line, said nothing about a price range for the Windows RT devices from the four OEMs. The company has declined to discuss prices of its Surface RT, as well as the slightly-larger tablet based on Windows 8 Pro.

Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy, didn't think it was a coincidence that Angiulo blogged today about upcoming Windows RT tablets and PCs.