HP drops Windows 7 from 'Slate' tablet, will use WebOS variant

despite the obvious loss of win7 i actually tihnk this is a great move. if they can make the variant of WebOS less power demanding and achieve plausible battery life of at least 8 hours than maybe,just maybe, it will be woth buying!

what the hell?? WebOS.. linux with proprietary palm crap welded on? .. why not just install a light linux like puppy or similar instead of all this proprietary crap all the time?.. NOT a selling point to proper FOSS users.. in fact it's just plain WRONG.. as wrong as putting crap7 on them really.

A nice simple touch screen enabled thing like a modified GOS would be good.. that was light and very tasty till they went and bloated it up with proprietary crap as well..

You don't want ANYTHING from palm.. they are going to be sold to the patent cartel scum soon..

Originally posted by Paula_X:

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what the hell?? WebOS.. linux with proprietary palm crap welded on? .. why not just install a light linux like puppy or similar instead of all this proprietary crap all the time?.. NOT a selling point to proper FOSS users.. in fact it's just plain WRONG.. as wrong as putting crap7 on them really.

A nice simple touch screen enabled thing like a modified GOS would be good.. that was light and very tasty till they went and bloated it up with proprietary crap as well..

You don't want ANYTHING from palm.. they are going to be sold to the patent cartel scum soon..

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What you really want is a TRS-80 Model 100 - tasty 40 column text mode and a real keyboard ...

I think that the web OS works well. Needs battery life upgrade and a good stable of apps. Hope palm had a tablet on the boards and ready to go otherwise apple will very far ahead in the minimum of six months it would take HP to deliver new slate product. Many of the benefits of Web OS will be gone if HP waits too long.

From my personal experience, webOS is okay. At this point in time it's just not likely that we're going to get phones that allow us to do what I normally do when I buy a computer (like a laptop): reformat and re-install, regardless of OS (usually I install Linux or if it's to be a Windows machine then Windows of course). Why? to get rid of the crap that comes along and HP is notorious for giving you crap on their 'clean' Windows install (Norton, HP System Check, HP Wireless Helper, more HP crap). Yet I continue to buy their laptops lol only because I know how to avoid the crap. IMO the worse offender is Sony in this regard.

Anyway, I would prefer to see Android go on this even with its non-uclibc/non-glibc-based (it's Bionic I think) C library, and all the other not-so-nice-to-FOSS-people quirks.

This is a stupid move by HP. They had a change to really compete with Apple on the grounds of offering a truer computing experience in tablet form.

The original design may have been power hungry, but it would have offered the user the ability to use the Slate almost like a true computer - installing whatever programs they see fit.

Instead, HP has opted to buy out Palm and re-design the Slate to be a watered down iPad wannabe. We don't need big phones that can't make phone calls, we need real computing in tablet form.

I think that's a bad move. WebOS is neither a pure web os like ChromeOS, nor does it have the app store support of Android or iPhone.

HP should be going with Android or ChromeOS. WebOS is going to fail on the Slate.

Lame, lame lame.

Dropping ðe Intel proc and Windows 7 make ðe HP Slate simply a bad copy of the Apple iPad, wiþ proprietary OS and non-standard processor.

I was actually considering buying one despite being an Apple user---not anymore.

Ðey could have always gone wiþ Ubuntu or even a trusty Netbook version of Windows XP.

I'll have to keep dreaming of a slate wiþ a real OS.

Whoa, @Memnock did you call that or what back at that last article.

So how you feel now? Still looking forward to it? What do you see as the big advantage of WebOS over Win7? (Besides better power performance anyway).

-JamK

(very sorry, double post)

This makes a lot of sense. Win7 wasn't designed for touch. WebOS was. Being a bit of an Apple geek myself, I welcome some real competition from HP. It will make both platforms better.

Good move. The one thing that was sounding like a big negative with the Slate (as opposed to the iPad) was that with a full operating system, the boot-up time with the Slate would have been far greater with reduced battery life. Now, it should have a nearly "instant on" boot and have better battery life, making it a true competitor to the iPad.

Originally posted by oohmyygoood:

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This makes a lot of sense. Win7 wasn't designed for touch. WebOS was. Being a bit of an Apple geek myself, I welcome some real competition from HP. It will make both platforms better.

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Windows 7 was designed specifically for out of the box single or multitouch use, you don't know what you are talking about. Stick with Apple.

What the hell? Phone operating systems are for PHONES, why don't companies understand this? Windows 7 if for computers, this is a computer right??? Well I won't be buying now, they essentially removed 99% of its functionality for 50% more battery life.

Originally posted by Planes86:

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This is a stupid move by HP. They had a change to really compete with Apple on the grounds of offering a truer computing experience in tablet form.

The original design may have been power hungry, but it would have offered the user the ability to use the Slate almost like a true computer - installing whatever programs they see fit.

Instead, HP has opted to buy out Palm and re-design the Slate to be a watered down iPad wannabe. We don't need big phones that can't make phone calls, we need real computing in tablet form.

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Yep got to agree with you.
www.savehpslate.com

This is a great idea.

WebOS is much more open than the iPhone OS and there is already a great hacking community. With Palm's new app distribution system, users aren't even forced to use the "app store".

BTW, phone OSes are great for tablets, because they are built with battery and touch interface considerations already in place.

Originally posted by Planes86:

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This is a stupid move by HP. They had a change to really compete with Apple on the grounds of offering a truer computing experience in tablet form.

The original design may have been power hungry, but it would have offered the user the ability to use the Slate almost like a true computer - installing whatever programs they see fit.

Instead, HP has opted to buy out Palm and re-design the Slate to be a watered down iPad wannabe. We don't need big phones that can't make phone calls, we need real computing in tablet form.

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you clearly dont understand. if they would have kept win7 on it it wud of failed just like all tablets. The iPad isnt meant to replace a computer, its meant to be better at key things. But it will be a much better competition with a half mobile and touch designed os. mark my words, this is the smartest move hp has made in years.

Originally posted by FrankTheTank:

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Originally posted by oohmyygoood:

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This makes a lot of sense. Win7 wasn't designed for touch. WebOS was. Being a bit of an Apple geek myself, I welcome some real competition from HP. It will make both platforms better.

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Windows 7 was designed specifically for out of the box single or multitouch use, you don't know what you are talking about. Stick with Apple.

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No you dont know what YOUR talking about. Windows 7 will work on a touch platform, yes. But ultimately that will be a pain in the ass to use. What this person meant was this is a touch only os as opposed to windows 7 which is made for keyboard and mouse with a cheap implimentation to touch. But ultimately that will fail.

I can't believe anyone is surprised by this...THIS IS HP WE ARE TALKING ABOUT! They cut every last corner...and if they can save $20 a device by not buying windows, then they will...as for installing linux, they can't charge for linux bug fixes, so that is out!

I guess we will have to wait a bit longer for the first linux/Win7 tablets...but at least the Android tablets are right around the corner.

Originally posted by KillerBug:

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I can't believe anyone is surprised by this...THIS IS HP WE ARE TALKING ABOUT! They cut every last corner...and if they can save $20 a device by not buying windows, then they will...as for installing linux, they can't charge for linux bug fixes, so that is out!

I guess we will have to wait a bit longer for the first linux/Win7 tablets...but at least the Android tablets are right around the corner.

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I want the Chrome OS netbook or tablet, whatever they come out with first.

More proprietary, less open...
Welcome to the future, built on Game systems, phones and friggen Apple. Even the new Win7 phone will use this effing business model.
Soon all software will be only available from an app store. Windows 10 will be on the cloud. You'll "pay per use" for everything and the world will end on Dec 21, 2012...
Bah

I think that this is a smart move for HP but, i can see the grey areas for debate. my opinion for this: true it does save money for HP since they will no longer be using the win7 OS. but, ever since HP buying palm this makes the most sense economically also palm WebOS is a linux based OS and from personal experience its not so bad. although i would prefer a light version of linux :D

As of terms of the software its not so bad but, i would like for them to keep the intel processor and the hardware specs of it. In the long run I wanna see the Slate beat Apples IPad

perfect IMO. webos is MADE for tablets really. its all HTML and CSS, its made to scale well with any resolution, and tablets are mainly a brwsing machine.

i dont get why everyone is against this?

webos is very very open, palm has fully embraced the homebrew community, and its made for a touch device form the ground up.


i know i will be buying this now. wasnt bought into this whole talbet hype, well not till this news.

Supposedly, a lot of testing w/ Win7 wasn't even getting close to the 5-hour battery life they were claiming (more like 3). Even as 'limited' as the iPad is, it would be hard to sell a 3-hour battery life product against a 9-10 hour battery life product for the price.

WebOS is not open or secure...and Android is. That is the problem with WebOS...it may not be trash, but it is not as good as Android. If HP wants to make palm into a viable company, the first thing they need to do is to drop WebOS and go to Android.

As for the tablets, these are intended to be computers, NOT PHONES! Provide a real OS, and if it goes slow, then take measures to fix it. Knowing HP, their testing was probably full of bloatware, spyware, and terrible software from Norton...thus the short battery life. I have an old HP laptop that only gets about 1 hour battery life when fresh from a restore from the included recovery DVDs...yet it gets almost 3 hours with a trimmed-n-tweeked win7 install. Funny how well it works when you don't have 2 competing virus scanners plus an indexer, all using the hard drive all the time.

Originally posted by KillerBug:

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WebOS is not open or secure...and Android is. That is the problem with WebOS...it may not be trash, but it is not as good as Android. If HP wants to make palm into a viable company, the first thing they need to do is to drop WebOS and go to Android.

As for the tablets, these are intended to be computers, NOT PHONES! Provide a real OS, and if it goes slow, then take measures to fix it. Knowing HP, their testing was probably full of bloatware, spyware, and terrible software from Norton...thus the short battery life. I have an old HP laptop that only gets about 1 hour battery life when fresh from a restore from the included recovery DVDs...yet it gets almost 3 hours with a trimmed-n-tweeked win7 install. Funny how well it works when you don't have 2 competing virus scanners plus an indexer, all using the hard drive all the time.

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wait, you want android on a tablet, yes theys a phone OS.

and why exactly would you saay its not open, nor secure? yes there was a video a while back showing insecurities but that came out after palm had patched it all up. and no the talets arnt intended to be computers, they are intended to be browsing machines, if you want a PC get a netbook with a touch screen.

what makes you say its not as good as android?

and any person who is worth their tech knowlege always, if they buy a laptop, will reinstall a fresh OS. all companies come with crap on their systems, though im not trying to defend HP. i perosnally cant stand HP, their customer service is beyond disgusting, but its not just them with the bloated OS's.
Palm is a viable company, they have been for around 13 years.... HP just need to inject cash and let palm do what they have been doing.

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Originally posted by KillerBug:

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WebOS is not open or secure...and Android is. That is the problem with WebOS...it may not be trash, but it is not as good as Android. If HP wants to make palm into a viable company, the first thing they need to do is to drop WebOS and go to Android.

As for the tablets, these are intended to be computers, NOT PHONES! Provide a real OS, and if it goes slow, then take measures to fix it. Knowing HP, their testing was probably full of bloatware, spyware, and terrible software from Norton...thus the short battery life. I have an old HP laptop that only gets about 1 hour battery life when fresh from a restore from the included recovery DVDs...yet it gets almost 3 hours with a trimmed-n-tweeked win7 install. Funny how well it works when you don't have 2 competing virus scanners plus an indexer, all using the hard drive all the time.

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wait, you want android on a tablet, yes theys a phone OS.

and why exactly would you saay its not open, nor secure? yes there was a video a while back showing insecurities but that came out after palm had patched it all up. and no the talets arnt intended to be computers, they are intended to be browsing machines, if you want a PC get a netbook with a touch screen.

what makes you say its not as good as android?

and any person who is worth their tech knowlege always, if they buy a laptop, will reinstall a fresh OS. all companies come with crap on their systems, though im not trying to defend HP. i perosnally cant stand HP, their customer service is beyond disgusting, but its not just them with the bloated OS's.
Palm is a viable company, they have been for around 13 years.... HP just need to inject cash and let palm do what they have been doing.

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Originally posted by jam_k:

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Whoa, @Memnock did you call that or what back at that last article.

So how you feel now? Still looking forward to it? What do you see as the big advantage of WebOS over Win7? (Besides better power performance anyway).

-JamK

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Ha. Yes I'm looking forward to it. I had a Palm Pre for a few months and really liked the WebOS. I just hated the phone. WebOS on a nice slate would be really slick. I used full Windows tablet PCs before and they sucked. Windows is not suited for a full touch interface. Plus these slates don't have fast enough processors to run Windows 7 well.

I like the iPad's ease of use and it overall snappiness. I like being to view pages
and books on nice big touch color touch screen. However, no multitasking, no USB ports, no ability to use as mass storage, and lack of flash are big negatives for me. I think a well done HP Slate with WebOS would bring a lot of what's nice about the iPad without all the negatives.

Originally posted by Josipher:

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despite the obvious loss of win7 i actually tihnk this is a great move. if they can make the variant of WebOS less power demanding and achieve plausible battery life of at least 8 hours than maybe,just maybe, it will be woth buying!

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I think one of the problems here is that people posting are posting from a geek standpoint. HP want to sell the slate by the truckload and that means selling to ordinary Joes who don't know webos and andriod from a hole in the ground. Of course, they DO know Windows and that's why it wouldn have sold.

Battery life schmattery life. Like a notebook, there are few occasions when you need 10 hours life. I believe , if HP do cancel the Win7 slate they are fools.

And as for anyone who thinks Win 7 can't be used on a touchscreen, I went and had a go on the HP TM2 yesterday in a store just to check that out and had no problem at all with it. By the time HP manage to get a webOS tablet out there'll already be plenty of competition.