Microsoft Corp. showed off its new Windows 8 operating system and its companion Surface tablet computer--the first computer for the company that has dominated personal computer software for a generation.
"With Windows 8, we have brought together the best of all worlds, the PC and the tablet, your work and your life," Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said at the New York debut.
Pacing the stage beneath an outsized image of the tiles that make up the Windows 8 display, Mr. Ballmer said the software brings together Microsoft technology from its Bing search engine to Skype, integration with social media and a cloud service to link content between devices.
Windows 8 also is a critical product for PC makers counting on the software to rekindle sales of PCs. Microsoft hopes to speed development of devices capitalizing on Windows 8 by urging chip makers to partner with mobile device makers to make best use of the software.
The company recently said sales of Windows 8 for hardware makers to include in new computers was roughly 40% higher than sales to hardware makers at the same point before the 2009 launch of the most recent Windows software.
Microsoft is struggling to get developers to create applications for Windows 8 and its new Windows Store, which is expected to have only 10,000 apps available when it opens this week. Competing app stores by Apple Inc. and Google Inc. contain several hundred thousand.
"Developers are working fast and furiously to stock the shelves of our new store with Windows apps," Mr. Ballmer said.
Microsoft's Surface tablet played a dominant role in the software debut. The slender tablet adopts the model of Microsoft's long-time rival Apple, with integrated hardware and software offered in a single product. The Surface and its 8 inch touch-screen operate a separate version of Windows called Windows RT. Microsoft has given the tablet the ability to behave like the familiar Windows PC, and comes standard with Microsoft's Word, Excel and PowerPoint software popular with business users.
Microsoft is attempting
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