Microsoft’s UK managing director and ex-BBC man Ashley Highfield has exclusively told Pocket-lint that the company won’t produce a tablet device, and therefore follow in the footsteps of Apple and Google, until it's got something to shout about.

"We won't do anything in the tablet market unless we can be distinctive," he told us.

Of course, Microsoft already has a presence on a number of tablet PCs, thanks to Dell, Acer and Asus, but Highfield clearly doesn't see those as a direct competitor to Apple's iPad or Google's Honeycomb OS-powered devices, like the Motorola Xoom.

Claiming that Microsoft still sees itself as the underdog in many of the markets it works in, Highfield also told us that, when it comes to tablets, he currently uses a Dell Inspiron Duo at home - swishing out the keyboard when he needs to type something like a long email.

“It gives me the best of both worlds,” he added, before admitting that he has a Sony Vaio in the office to do the “heavy lifting”.

Highfield doesn’t rule out the creation of a dedicated tablet device operating system in the future, but won't acknowledge that Microsoft was working on one either.

The Microsoft event saw the first ever spring collection from Windows, a showcase of the most striking PCs of the season chosen by the software giant in order to suit individual needs, lifestyles and budgets. It can be viewed online at: www.windows.co.uk/thecollection, and chosen PCs are available from all major retailers. 

In total, The Collection features around 30 best-in-class PCs running Windows 7 across five categories.