The return of the Windows CE tablet

We have very recently heard directly from Steve Ballmer that Microsoft’s tablet OS will be Windows 7, with the company having no plans for a special tablet OS or even Windows phone 7 on a tablet.

Strange then that today we have seen two reports of tablets supposedly running Windows CE, coming out later this year (possible with Windows CE 7? )

Via Digitimes we hear that Mio Technology, a division of the Mitac Group, will launch a 7-inch Windows CE tablet PC equipped with Wi-Fi and WiMAX in the Taiwan market initially in fourth-quarter 2010. The device is likely to be the Mio Moov, currently running Windows CE 6.0, but hopefully with a Windows CE 7 upgrade when it is released around the same time at the end of the year.

Next we hear via YNet of the Asus EeePad E90 running 1Ghz Tegra 2 with a 1024×600 screen and 16 or 32 GB storage. While its not clear what OS the device runs, it is supposed to have Microsoft Office, suggesting Windows CE again.

If these devices do come out running Windows CE 7.0 it will certainly send a mixed message to both OEMs and consumers about Microsoft’s plans and future intentions.

Do our readers think Microsoft should go with a ARM based tablet OS, or try and bring full and powerful desktop Windows to consumer tablets? Let us know below.