Intel Windows 8 tablets to hit retail stores in November

Windows 8 should available by November when Intel-based devices hit retail stores.

The first wave of Intel-based Windows 8 tablets are expected to land in retail stores in November.

"The schedule is tight," said the source. "Looking at what Windows is trying to achieve not only with a new OS, but a new OS that needs to run four to five architectures -- three ARM, Intel, and AMD," according to the source.

And don't expect just tablets. "More than 50 percent" of the "more than a dozen" designs will be hybrids, aka convertibles, the source said. Those designs combine aspects of a traditional physical keyboard-based laptop and tablet.

Intel-specified tablet/hybrid features.

(Credit: Intel)

All the devices described by the source will tap Intel's upcoming "Clover Trail" Atom chip. Clover Trail is Intel's first dual-core Atom design based on its 32-nanometer process technology. (The single core version of this chip powers a phone from India-based Lava and is slated for phones from Lenovo, Orange, and Motorola, among others.)

Hybrid Windows 8 designs based on the higher-performance Ivy Bridge processor are also expected but the source did not address that market segment specifically.

A separate release from Microsoft, Windows RT, will land on devices powered by ARM chip suppliers Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments. RT will not run older Windows applications.Windows 8, like Windows 7 before it, will be powered by chips from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices and will be able to run older, so-called "legacy" applications.

The sources added that Intel has a chip called "Bay Trail" in the works -- the company's future 22-nanometer follow-up to Clover Trail.

"It is a gigantic performer, with similar battery life to Clover Trail. It will also have a lot of security features built in and Infineon [3G/4G] silicon inside," the source said.

Bay Trail would use Intel's own graphics tech, not Imagination's.

When that chip will arrive isn't clear yet. (CNET)