The company is integrating its Internet Explorer browser and Microsoft Network content into its Windows operating system, a process that will culminate with the "Active Desktop" planned for Windows 97, due out in a few months.

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The keynote address also highlighted other Microsoft efforts, including Windows Phone 7 and the Windows PC operating system, which is in the process of being upgraded to work on a range of devices, including buzz-worthy tablet computers.

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The only downside is that it is running Symbian, the platform Nokia is in the process of dumping, rather than its operating system of choice, Windows Phone.

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Solarflare lets the customer prioritize the network traffic and do it in a way that stays in synch and helps the application process its networking traffic without bothering the operating system.

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All of this is possible because of virtualization, a process which increases effectiveness by inserting a level of software between the operating system and the hardware.

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Though Surface is clearly a tablet device, Sinofsky pointed out that the process of developing Windows 8 (on which Surface's Windows RT operating system is based) started in the summer of 2009, when there was no Apple iPad as a reference point (though it remains unclear if Microsoft began working on its tablet at that time).

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As it turned out, the firmware upgrade we performed ended up crashing in the middle of the process, after which the player was unrecognizeable by either the Creative software, the operating system, or any version of the firmware updater we threw at it.

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The Upgrade Assistant will walk you through the upgrade process step-by-step, from purchase to download and then to installation of the operating system.

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Issues to consider include ease of deployment, managing backup and data access, support, security, network complexity, device management, operating system diversity, total cost of ownership and integration of various tablet platforms at the application, mobile device management process and system level.

FORBES: Written by Mitch Cline