It is expected in the next couple of weeks, specifically at CES 2011 in January, that Microsoft will unveil a new version of its operating system compatible with ARM technology.
The software is thought to be designed with battery powered, mobile devices in mind, with Apple and Google’s recent advancements in the tablet and smart phone sector. Despite being the world’s largest software manufacturer, Microsoft certainly has lost ground to its competitors in the mobile computing market, with Apple’s iPad thought to have a 95% stranglehold on the tablet PC market and Microsoft’s only representative being the Windows 7 phone, which has received a mixed response.
Considering Microsoft’s well established relationship with Intel and the type of x86 chips which are favoured by the processing company it would be difficult to figure out why else would Microsoft would endeavour to establish a program attuned with ARM other than to attack the mobile computing market. With wireless technologies such as WiFi and mobile internet making data connection easier and more accessible industry commentators are predicting a significant rise in the use of mobile devices across the next few years and it is understandable that Microsoft, already at a disadvantage to its competitors, wants to make some kind of headway in this lucrative new market sector.
Windows current flagship OS, Windows 7, is known to be far too bulky to function on devices with limited capacity and processing power, this could mean an upgrade for Windows current Phone 7 platform (although unlikely) or the engineering of a ‘Windows Lite’ version that would operate with the systems most popular features.
So does this mean that the door is now closed for Intel and its biggest cash cow? Well, not necessarily; in the initial report from Bloomberg it is revealed that, “The new software also will be able to work on Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. processors — the chips that power PC versions of Windows. While other versions of Microsoft software aimed at phones and mobile devices work on ARM chips, this is the first time it will make a full version of Windows available on that technology.”
If this statement is accurate, it will represent one of, if the not the first instance that a popular operating system has had the opportunity to run on both ARM and x86 architectures for
domestic consumers. What this also means is that there will be a chance to make direct apple to apple comparisons of devices that run on Windows and Intel versus those from competing manufacturers. Intel will have to get their skates on if they are to mount a serious challenge against the new range of ARM chips already set for launch in the new year with improved computing power and miserly consumption, if that is, ABI Research’s prediction that ARM will surpass x86 as soon as 2013.