In the May 04, 2010 newsletter at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2010/05/hp-slate-computer-reportedly-dropped.html, I reported that Hewlett-Packard had killed the idea of a Slate tablet computer.
Now an HP exec has confirmed that the company is developing a WebOS slate computer which "should be available by October." Details may be found at http://www.liliputing.com/2010/05/hp-webos-slate-on-the-way-dont-expect-a-webos-netbook.html
"WebOS" means that it won't be Windows 7. More likely, it will be based somewhat on the Palm operating system. Hewlett Packard is shelling out $1.2 billion to purchase Palm so the use of the Palm operating system makes sense. However, it also means that Windows genealogy programs will not run on the new Slate computer, as originally expected.
This is a major disappointment, in my mind. In fact, I question why HP thinks the company can compete against the iPad, another "slate style" computer that does not run Windows or Macintosh operating systems but has already sold hundreds of thousands of systems. The big attraction of the original HP announcement was that it was to run Windows 7 and, therefore, be able to run any of thousands of Windows programs. The recent selection of a "one off" operating system seems guaranteed to relegate the HP Slate to a secondary role in the marketplace.
