Microsoft Windows for ARM Processors to be Announced at CES?
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Since its inception more than 25 years, the desktop version of Microsoft Windows has been designed to run exclusively on x86 machines. Sure, over the years Microsoft released versions of Windows running on other architectures as well, including the ARM architecture used in Windows-powered phones, but these versions of Windows were not meant to be actual ports of the desktop version, as they were mostly built from the ground up for non-x86 devices, and share very little with their desktop counterpart.
2011 may be the year of change for the Redmond-based company, as Microsoft allegedly decided to port the desktop version of Windows to the ARM architecture. The new version is expected to be announced at CES early next year.
Most tablets and handheld devices such as Android phones, the iPad and the iPhone run on ARM chips, as the architecture offers a much longer battery life for similar processing power, when compared to more traditional architectures such as x86. Microsoft’s move is simple: the software giant is after iOS and Android, and the only way to compete is to make its operating system compatible with ARM processors.
According to Bloomberg, the new version of the OS will be modular enough to be deployed on either Intel, AMD, or ARM processors, in order to offer as much flexibility to tablet manufacturers as possible.
Microsoft declined to comment on the report, but since the software giant signed an agreement with ARM Holdings to license the architecture earlier this year, the news doesn’t seem far fetched at all.
Windows for ARM would also mean a much more streamlined development process for Microsoft, as both Windows and Windows Phone could eventually share the same building blocks.
