Microsoft has confirmed what HP had for some time been doing on the sly. A new Windows 7-based HP slate is coming soon to the market.

The Microsoft Partner Conference 2010 commenced today in full swing. And the HP logo figured conspicuously on the homepage, where a space was reserved for Windows 7 slates waiting on the sidelines. It shared precious attention along with Dell, Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, Onkyo and others.

Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer further confirmed our suspicions. During his keynote address at the conference, Ballmer said:

“Microsoft and its existing PC partners, including Asus, Dell, Samsung, Toshiba and Sony, will all be fielding Windows 7 slates in the coming months. These slates will be available at a variety of price points and in a variety of form factors — with keyboards, touch only, dockable, able to handle digital ink, etc.”

We are wondering if this is an indication to bide our time again. Because the last time Ballmer made a Windows 7 HP slate seem imminent in his January keynote, we were allowed a lot of time to wonder where that plan got waylaid. Though, this could also be the reason why Ballmer chose to carefully keep HP out of his quoted list of slates. The word-of-the-mouth is not to be fiddled around with, after all.

For those of you making the patience top ten lists, there is the option of waiting till HP consolidates this piece of information. Phil McKinney, VP and Chief Technology Officer at HP will make an appearance, notably the first one after the Palm-acquisition thing, to speak at the MobileBeat conference in San Francisco. Let us hope he does not sidestep this topic altogether and start speaking of plans for webOS slates instead.