Will windows 8 take on iPad?

US computing giant Microsoft on Tuesday gave China an early peek at its new tablet computer and Windows 8 software, promising a “fast and fluid” operating system.

US computing giant Microsoft on Tuesday gave China an early peek at its new tablet computer and Windows 8 software, promising a “fast and fluid” operating system.

Microsoft will launch Windows 8 and the Surface tablet computer, designed to compete with Apple’s popular iPad, in the US on Friday. The two products’ launch in China is on the same day.

Microsoft’s new tablet computer was designed as a platform for Windows, said Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft’s Windows division’s president, as he compared it to Apple’s iPad.