Unfazed by the iPad 2 juggernaut, Microsoft is attempting to enter the tablet arena with a touch screen device of their own (albeit a little late).

Microsoft Corp., the world’s largest software maker, won’t release a competitor to Apple Inc. and Google Inc.’s tablet operating systems until the 2012 back-to- school season, people with knowledge of the plans said. [...]

Microsoft is working to update its Windows 7 operating system with features more tailored to the touch screens, size and battery life of tablet computers to win a place in the surging market for the devices. (Bloomberg)

While it’s understandable why Microsoft is making a tablet that supports their full fledged OS, it’s unclear whether doing so would make the company competitive against Apple.

Such a device would probably be well north of $1,000 USD, making it more expensive than many laptops as well as some of Apple’s notebooks (not to mention iPad 3 which will probably be out by then).

Unless Microsoft can convince developers to optimize their software for the device at launch, the software giant will run into the same problems facing HP’s TouchPad and Motorola’s Xoom (hint: a great OS with very few tools).

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