Before You Judge Windows 8 Tablets -- Keep In Mind This Is What Everyone Thought The iPad Would Look Like Early On

2011-09-14T20:18:00.000Z

Windows 8's "Metro" interface sure is pretty. We'll give Microsoft credit for that.

But underneath all that is the same old Windows we've been used to for years now. In fact, Microsoft wants it that way. It's going to offer "regular" Windows apps in its new app store too.

That means Windows 8 is going to run apps from decades ago. Whether or not that's a good thing for tablets remains to be seen.

Keep this in mind, though: before Apple came along a redefined what a tablet should be, everyone readily accepted tablets running traditional desktop operating systems.

Need proof? Check out all these mockups of the "Apple Tablet" before the iPad launched.