TAIPEI—Over the past week, PCMag has brought you a lot of coverage from the Computex 2012 trade show here. But one thing we haven't done, besides a few product shots, is shown you a booth up close and personal. With our time at Computex winding down, it seemed like an ideal time to do just that—and give you a glimpse of something potentially exciting at the same time: a tablet running Windows RT, or the version of the Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system designed to work on ARM processors (such as, surprise, surprise, the Nvidia Tegra 3).
Unfortunately, Nvidia had the Asus Tablet 600 on which Windows RT was installed shielded safely behind a glass case, and the reps we talked to there wouldn't take it out for us. If the rumor floating around the show was true, that this was the only Windows RT device that actually arrived in Taipei intact, then their caution makes sense. But the photos in the slideshow below give you an idea of the kinds of devices you can expect to run this super-optimized OS, which also imposes stringent hardware requirements on manufacturers, like a certain number of buttons, five touch points on the screen, carefully defined minimums on storage capacity and screen resolution, and so on.
The Tablet 600 wasn't as sleek as Asus's other products, such as its Zenbook line or even the Transformer Prime it also introduced at Computex. But with a crisp, 10.1-inch display, a decent chiclet-style keyboard, and a good-size touch pad, what it lacked in style it mde up in utility.
Windows RT will also reportedly only run software available through the Windows Store, or included in the distribution, which means there will be plenty of restrictions on users as well. And if the devices grow in popularity and take off, it seems likely that could accelerate the death of the desktop some tech pundits (including yours truly) see as the ultimate goal of Windows 8's Metro interface. That Windows RT is, at a glance, indistinguishable from Windows 8, which is otherwise ruling Computex, only muddies the waters further—undoubtedly to Microsoft's benefit.
So here's your first glimpse at Windows RT, a tablet that runs it, and the Nvidia booth, which was the pilgrimage point for all Windows RT–starved attendees. What will happen from here remains to be seen, but we hope Nvidia and Microsoft lift the glass case soon as show the world this new, and potentially groundbreaking, fusion of software and hardware.