Windows 7

In the weeks leading up to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s Jan. 5 keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show, any number of rumors suggested that he would use the venue’s international spotlight to debut a series of Windows-based tablets.

That didn’t happen. Ballmer touted the Kinect hands-free controller for the Xbox 360, which sold more than 8 million units in its first 60 days of release. He suggested that Windows Phone 7 is gaining momentum, with some 5,500 apps (and growing) in its applications marketplace. But he didn’t whip the cover away from a Windows-powered iPad killer.

Yes, Ballmer and other Microsoft executives have spent the past few days of CES frenzy showing off laptops with tablet-like sleekness and functionality, including a neat one from Acer with top-and-bottom touch screens. And yes, Microsoft’s enormous mothership of a show booth features (behind glass) a handful of Windows tablets from the likes of Toshiba, Asus and Lenovo. But those tablets seem mostly intended for the Asian market, and the majority of the booth’s real estate seems devoted to traditional PCs, Windows Phone 7 devices and Xbox games.

Ballmer may have kept the tablet talk to a minimum during his keynote, but he pumped up how the next version of Windows will support system-on-a-chip (SoC) architecture, including ARM-based systems from partners such as Qualcomm, Nvidia and Texas Instruments. ARM chip designs currently dominate much of the burgeoning mobile market, which includes tablets and smartphones.

Ballmer told the keynote audience: “Windows support for SoC is an important step for Microsoft and for the industry.” He emphasized the need for what he termed “the full range of capabilities for any device,” which to me suggested he was trying to draw a contrast between Windows and the lighter operating systems that power mobile devices from Apple and Google.

“The power and breadth of software, the always-on capabilities of a mobile phone, great browsing and productivity in addition to the basics like printing,” Ballmer added. “Windows has the breadth and depth and the flexibility to define and deliver this next generation.”

That sure sounds like Microsoft’s considering how to best place Windows on smaller and sleeker form factors. But unlike Apple, whose iPad started as a bare-bones platform and has been gaining functionality with each successive update, Microsoft seems to be considering how to best place Windows in its entirety on those lighter form factors.

Microsoft at CES seems like a company eager to tout its successes in areas like Kinect, and somewhat unsure about its position vis-à-vis the paradigm gripping the tech industry with regard to mobility: hence, the lack of emphasis on tablets. But you can’t help but feel the softies in Redmond have something more in the works, if only to make sure that Apple and Google don’t widen their already substantial leads in that space. If so, those announcements didn’t come at CES.