Canonical unveils Ubuntu for tablets; preview available Thursday for Nexus 7, Nexus 10

After announcing the Ubuntu OS for smartphone, Canonical has now extended the operating system to tablets as well. The Touch Developers Preview for this operating system will be available from February 21 on Ubuntu's developer site, and it will run on Google's Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets.

Canonical had been teasing the launch of this operating system on its website. As per the company's claims, Ubuntu for tablets will be able to support screen sizes ranging from 6-inches to 20-inches, and screen resolutions varying from 100 to 450 ppi.

On the face of it, Ubuntu OS for tablets looks very similar to Windows RT. This operating system also features what the company dubs as "side stage". The feature allows user to use any top apps on screen simultaneously.

"Multi-tasking productivity meets elegance and rigorous security in our tablet experience," said Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Ubuntu and Canonical. "Our family of interfaces now scales across all screens, so your phone can provide tablet, PC and TV experiences when you dock it. That's unique to Ubuntu and it's the future of personal computing."

Canonical has already announced that will also be present at the forthcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona and will be showing myriad of devices running the Ubuntu OS.

"Fashion industry friends say the Ubuntu phone and tablet are the most beautiful interfaces they've seen for touch" said Ivo Weevers, who leads the Canonical design team. "We're inspired by the twin goals of style and usability, and working with developers who are motivated to create the best possible experience for friends, family and industry."

The company had launched Ubuntu OS for smartphones in January, and Canonical has indicated that the first smartphones based on the Ubuntu operating system are expected to be available to the customers by October 2013 in 'two large geographic markets'.

So far the company has not disclosed the hardware partners for the tablets or any timeline regarding when these tablets will be available in the market.