The only reason I drag along a laptop on my motorcycle trips is to use BaseCamp or MapSource. Will I ever be able to use a tablet to create and/or reload routes to my Zumo of needed?
You can do it right now. I run Basecamp, Mapsource and even high end GIS software like GlobalMapper on a Windows 7 based HP Slate 500 tablet. There are a variety of other Windows 7 based tablets, and Windows 8 tablets are coming.
Yeah, a Windows 7 tablet should be able to run almost any Windows software (subject to memory and storage limitations). My Slate 500 has full Windows 7 Professional 32 bit with 2GB RAM and 64GB flash disk, but it's a netbook-class CPU. Mapsource runs really well, Basecamp runs fine also, but rather slow since it is more resource-hungry. Also works well with nRoute and MobilePC for navigation.
I'm not real crazy about Win 7 on a tablet, although it certainly works. You can also add a mouse and keyboard either through bluetooth or USB, and then it's a regular Windows 7 machine. Windows 8 has supposedly been improved for use on tablets, some people are running the beta on the HP Slate. Somewhere I read that Mapsource runs OK on Windows 8.
BaseCamp and MapSource run fine on Windows 8. They do not run on Windows RT (the ARM processor variant of Windows 8). So if you are looking into a Windows tablet that you want to run BaseCamp or MapSource on, make sure it's not Windows RT.
I would definitely agree that Windows 8 is a much better tablet OS than Windows 7.
Windows 8 and a whole bunch of new devices will come out starting Oct 26.
