In some ways it’s an exciting time to be a Microsoft watcher. With things like Windows Phone, Kinect, and Windows 8, or as Steve Ballmer calls it – the company’s “riskiest bet yet”, it seems like Microsoft might finally getting its mojo back.

Of course the biggest thing of interest now that Windows Phone has been set on its path, is the reveal of Microsoft’s tablet strategy. You can see that growing interest with the increasing number of posts speculating that we are finally going to see what Microsoft’s next generation operating system is going to look like at the AllThingsD conference when Steven Sinofsky appears on stage.

One of the posts that I have seen in the past couple of days that is taking exception to the rampant tech pundit daydreaming is by Mary Jo Foley where she suggests that we aren’t going to see what we would like to see:

With Sinofsky being Sinofsky, I’m doubtful that we’ll hear him refer to anything as “Windows 8″ next week at the AllThingsD show. (He prefers to call the next version of Windows “Windows Next.”) I’m also highly doubtful he’ll let anyone see a build number or anything that indicates how far along Microsoft is with the development of Windows 8. (I’m hearing Microsoft is fairly well along with Milestone 3, and that June 2011 may mark the end-of-development for that internal milestone build.)

If Sinofsky decides to show Windows 8 next week — and don’t let anyone kid you, it’s his decision as to whether he does or not — he’ll do so to show the naysayers that Microsoft isn’t totally clueless about slates/tablets.

Myself, I’m torn. On one hand, I’m like many of the other tech writers in that I really want Microsoft to woo and wow us with something new and different, something that will really set their tablet offerings apart from the rest of the playing field.

However on the other hand, there is a part of me that really wants them to pull an Apple and keep everything under wraps until the very last moment. I realize that this isn’t practical for Microsoft because unlike Apple which totally owns its supply chain, Microsoft has to at some point let the OEM hardware manufacturers in on the secret, and we all know what happens then.

That problem aside, I think Microsoft should hold their tablet strategy, OS and hardware, as close to their chest for as long as it possibly can. It’s not like they haven’t done this before, as we saw once Sinofsky took over the Windows division and kept us all waiting for information about Windows 7.

Microsoft should be doing the same thing when it comes to tablets. Keep us in the dark for as long as possible and use that time to let the hype and speculation build.

I am really hoping that Mary Jo is right on this one.

Cross-posted at Winextra]