Windows 8 will be delivered in a, to Microsoft, unusually large amount of versions. Not only will there be x86 versions for our regular PCs, but also several special versions for the ARM platform. Intel, for obvious reasons, isn’t very happy about the ARM version of Windows 8 and has ”revealed” that only the x86 versions will support current Windows applications.
This would seem pretty obvious since x86 applications can’t be powered by an ARM-based platform. But then again Windows is related to Windows applications and after confusion among consumers Intel’s senior VP Renee James decided to spread some light on the subject and explain the bitter truth to those with high expextations for the ARM version of Windows 8.
”Our competitors will not be running legacy applications. Not now. Not ever.” concluded Renee James during a presentation at the Intel HQ.
With legacy applications Renee James is largely pointing to older Windows applications that may still be in use today. Everything from games to office suits, e.g. Windows Office. Microsoft and other software developers will most likely rewrite or just recompile thei programs to work with the ARM platform of Windows 8, but there is no doubt the x86 version of Windows will boast the biggest numbers through its backwards compatibility.
Intel that owns the x86 license and whose processors are found in 80% of all computers worldwide has a lot to lose on Microsoft’s ARM version of Windows 8. They have together, Intel and Microsoft, taken command on the PC market over the last decades. This position is now being threatened by ARM and its partners, but also mobile operating systems like Android and iOS.
Source: Bloomberg
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