After acknowledging today Apple's iPad success in the slate-style market, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer promised the company's chief investors that it is on track to beat Apple in that market.
"They've sold certainly more than I'd like them to sell, let me just be clear about that," he said. "We have got to make things happen. Just like we had to make things happen on netbooks, we've got to make things happen with Windows 7 on slates, and we're in the process of doing that as we speak."
The previous statement is a reference to how Microsoft managed to retake the small, Web-oriented notebook computers which has been initially dominated by Linux.
Ballmer revealed that Microsoft is working on new digital ink and touch-based input technologies that will give it leverage in its uphill battle against the iPad market dominance. Microsoft also expects to receive a considerable boost with the release of Intel's Oak Tree line of low-powered computer processors early next year.
Responding to Ballmer's optimism, one analyst pointed out that Microsoft's competitors in the slate market, Apple and Google, are not as small as Ubuntu.
"If we can't compete against whatever the weird collection of android machines is going to look like, shame on us," was Ballmer's reply.
