Because the tablets run Windows on x86 processors they will be able to drop easily into a Windows 7 environment, working with PC technologies like Active Directory, Domain Join and Group Policy, Reid said.

"This is very easy to manage and deploy, it goes right into a Windows 7 environment," said Lenovo's Tom Butler, describing the company's Thinkpad Tablet 2.

They'll also run a broad range of productivity applications, such as Office and Quicken. Intel showed a sales application it developed with SAP that had a Metro-like interface, and a medical application doctors can use to look up patient records and view x-rays.

Dell went furthest in positioning its tablets for business. It will offer its Latitude 10 with an optional finger-print scanner and smart card reader built into the back, for security authentication, and its tablets also have a removable battery, for "shift workers" who need to swap out a battery before they can get back to a power supply.

The company will offer tablets for "multiple budgets and industries," and applications for vertical industries such as health care will be certified for its tablet at the outset, said Bill Gordon, Dell executive director for end user computing. "We also have a docking station that turns this product into a desktop," he said.