Hewlett-Packard is not doing things the Microsoft way anymore. In a move that directly undermines the software giant’s efforts to rekindle demand for Windows 8, HP has shifted its marketing focus back to Windows 7.

As part of a new promotion bearing the slogan “back by popular demand,” the struggling hardware maker is offering $150 in savings to customers who buy a new Windows 7 PC. If you’re still interested in picking up an HP machine loaded with the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system, you’ll now have to manually filter for Windows 8 on the company’s online catalog to view the full product selection.

A growing rift in PC’s market

The growing rift between the long-time partners extends beyond the traditional desktop market. At the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, HP introduced an enterprise-oriented all-in-one that runs on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean instead of Windows. The Slate 21 Pro comes preinstalled with Citrix virtualization software, which means it can be conveniently adapted to serve as a thin client, and offers full support for the XenMobile (formerly Zenprise) mobility management platform.

The system sports a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 4 processor, 2GB of DDR3/800 memory and 16GB of eMMC flash storage, which more than enough for most business apps. It also includes a 21.5-inch IPS display with Full HD resolution, an onboard 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi adapter and a good number of ports.

While Windows 8 is slipping of HP’s agenda, Android is steadily creeping up CEO Meg Whitman’s priority list. The company last week delivered on her July promise to get back into mobile with two new hybrid devices featuring Google’s operating system and voice calling capabilities: the Slate6 VoiceTab and Slate7 VoiceTab, which will launch exclusively in India next month, both pack an unspecified quad-core processor, 16GB of internal memory and a MicroSD slot that can support an additional 32GB.

photo credit: Jared721 via photopin cc