First Ubuntu tablet can turn into a full computer

It’s the moment Ubuntu fans have been waiting for. Canonical, the company behind the open-source operating system, finally revealed its first Ubuntu tablet on Thursday. The promise of convergence has never felt closer.

The 10.1-inch tablet, which is actually just a modified version of the pre-existing Aquaris M10, runs the latest version of Ubuntu software. That includes a touch-based user interface along with a windowed PC experience. You can switch between them freely, or plug into a monitor to create an Ubuntu PC.

The Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Edition tablet offers pretty standard mid-range hardware. That includes a 10.1-inch 1280 x 800-pixel display, a 1.5GHz MediaTek processor and 2GB of RAM. Those specs won’t blow you away, but they should be powerful enough for Canonical’s software. The device is also light, compact and supposedly well-built.

Canonical’s dream of convergence has been around for a while, but by now the company faces some real competition. Microsoft is moving in same direction with its Continuum software, though that’s still a work in progress, and other companies are likely to follow. Ubuntu still has a chance to succeed, but after years of delays this may be its last shot.