Microsoft Slate Could Foretell the Shape of Tablets to Come

Attendees at Microsoft's TechEd New Zealand show were reportedly treated to a preview of what may have been a new quad-core Windows slate device running on the not-yet debuted Windows 8.

The slate could be a giveaway at Microsoft's Build conference in September, according to a Smarter Geek blog post by attendee and IT consultant Alan Burchill. The information was treated with some skepticism, since other TechEd attendees didn't recall that claim, and one said the slate was running on Windows 7.

Regardless of the details, though, the device Microsoft showed probably won't be on shelves any time in the near future.

"I assume this is part of Microsoft gearing up for its developer conference in September. It would be a proof if concept, not a consumer-ready product," Sarah Rotman Epps, analyst at Forrester, told TechNewsWorld.

Buchill's post revealed two images of the thin-looking device that could be a predecessor to Microsoft's foray into the modern tablet market.

Microsoft didn't confirm or deny any part of the report.

Microsoft to plug critical IE hole targeted by exploit code

Microsoft said on Thursday that it will offer six updates for 12 vulnerabilities next week including a critical hole in Internet Explorer that affects Windows 7 and other current versions of the operating system for which exploit code has been released.

Late last month, Microsoft said it was investigating an IE vulnerability after someone released proof-of-concept code affecting IE 6 and IE 7 that could be used to take control of computers.

Microsoft described the problem in an advisory issued November : "The vulnerability exists as an invalid pointer reference of Internet Explorer. It is possible under certain conditions for a CSS/Style object to be accessed after the object is deleted. In a specially-crafted attack, Internet Explorer attempting to access a freed object can lead to running attacker-supplied code."

Of the six updates Microsoft will release on Patch Tuesday, three of them are critical, according to a Microsoft security bulletin advance notification.

Software affected includes Windows 2000, Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Server 2003, Server 2008, Office XP, and Office 2003.