Samsung Electronics is said to release a tablet that features Microsoft's Windows RT software when the operating system debuts. Expected to bereleased in October, the handheld computer will feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor, Bloomberg reported today. The decision to support Windows RT follows Samsung's earlier announcement that it will back the x86 verion of Windows 8.

Microsoft suffered a setback last week when Hewlett-Packard said it won't back Windows RT.

Windows RT is the first mainstream computer operating system from Microsoft to be built for a touch-screen device and work on ARM-based chips typically used in smartphones.

ARM machines running the new version of Windows will only be able to use new applications written for Windows 8 and Windows RT, while the x86 machines can run a much wide range of older Windows apps.