HP drops Windows 7 for ‘Slate’ tablet, will use WebOS variant

May 03, 2010 | Comments 1

HP drops Windows 7 from ‘Slate’ tablet, will use WebOS variant soon after the purchase of smartphone maker Palm, several media reporting that it will be removing Windows 7 from the Slate tablet, instead choosing to use a WebOS variant, argued to be the best Smartphone operating system available.

Windows 7 seems to be too power-hungry and HP wanted to try something which can provide more battery time for their unreleased tablet. Additionally, a Windows 7 license will bring up the price of any final Slate product, and now that HP owns WebOS, the move makes sense.

TechCrunch also said that HP is set to drop the Intel processor used in the tablet, which would completely kill off any chance of Windows 7 being used.

The Slate, in its original state, would have run on Windows 7, would have been $549 at its cheapest, and had an 8.9-inch 1024×600 multi-touch screen. The tablet had a 1.6GHz Atom Z530 processor, 1GB RAM, SDHC slot (with support up to 128GB), two cameras, a USB port, a SIM card slot, and five-hour battery life.