Windows OS for pads preview

Microsoft will preview its Windows operating system designed for tablet computers in demonstrations planned for this upcoming week, according to sources with knowledge.

The company will showcase the software’s touch-screen interface running on hardware with the next generation Tegra chip from Nvidia, said the sources.

Industry buzz points to Microsoft executives taking to the road at different tech trade shows as an indication that the Redmond, Wash., software giant is set to roll out its tablet operating system.

Steven Sinofsky, Windows president, is scheduled to present at the All Things D conference, while Steve Guggenheimer, Windows vice president, will address a computer show in Taipei.

Microsoft is rushing to adapt Windows to better support devices that can compete with Apple’s iPad.

The new operating system won’t be released until next year, but the company is eager to show it is moving forward, seeking to generate demand among computer makers and chip suppliers.

Mark Martin, a spokesman for Microsoft, declined to comment.

Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer — who last week was on the receiving end of shareholder angst by hedge fund investor David Einhorn — said that tablets with the new operating system, which he referred to as Windows 8, would be released sometime in the first half of 2012.