HP PCs to all have webOS in 2012

HP chief Leo Apotheker in an interview said webOS would be a regular feature of all HP computers in the future. Expanding on details from the webOS event, the executive promised that all 2012 HP computers would boot webOS as well as Windows. He told Bloomberg he hoped to spur on app creation that would make HP's PCs stand out from the generic crowd.

"You create a massive platform," he said, referring to the tens of millions of desktops and notebooks shipped every year by HP.

HP has often loaded special interfaces and software on its computers, but they have never been popular enough to be singled out as attractors. The software on its TouchSmart PCs only provides touchscreen support for certain tasks, and HP's past use of pre-boot interfaces like Splashtop haven't been unique. WebOS gives it a mobile OS that could start almost instantly but which could be used almost exclusively for many tasks instead of having to resort to Windows.

Much of HP's webOS attention is still focused on dedicated mobile devices such as the TouchPad, Pre3, and Veer, but it has planned to make the OS ubiquitous across its entire line. The move could give webOS a much-needed profile increase to improve its stance against the much larger Android and iOS platforms.

By Electronista Staff