Windows 8 to introduce ARM; First Public Demonstration Expected This Week
1–10 of 70 posts
Re: Windows 8 to introduce ARM; First Public Demonstration Expected This Week
#2Anyone have insight on whether this is Microsoft gunning at mobile platforms, or loosing faith in the dominance of x86?
Re: Windows 8 to introduce ARM; First Public Demonstration Expected This Week
#3Anyone have insight on whether this is Microsoft gunning at mobile platforms, or loosing faith in the dominance of x86?
You pose the question as if those two things were contradictory, but aren't they really synonymous? I think everyone expects that the majority of computers sold in the next few years will be sold in the form of smartphones and tablets, and ARM dominates those markets.
Re: Windows 8 to introduce ARM; First Public Demonstration Expected This Week
#4Anyone have insight on whether this is Microsoft gunning at mobile platforms, or loosing faith in the dominance of x86?
You can smell their fear.
As long as I can buy an ARM-based netbook subsidized by crapware/adware on Windows 8 and replace the thing with a decent OS, I'll be happy.
Sadly, I won't be able to brag about using a Windows-proof computer anymore...
Now, seriously, Windows failed once on RISC platforms because software vendors were not interested in supporting them. Can an ARM-based Windows desktop function when the only software it runs is Windows? And, perhaps, Office? Would a Windows user live without 3rd-party software? Would all 3rd-parties rush to support Windows on ARM? I doubt it.
And, of course, it reminds me of FUD maneuvers of the past, like Windows for Pen Computing. It may well be designed to prevent people from seriously considering moving to Android (or classic Linux) on ARM-based platforms "because Windows 8 will support ARM and is just around the corner". Seen it before. And it worked, BTW.
Re: Windows 8 to introduce ARM; First Public Demonstration Expected This Week
#5Anyone have insight on whether this is Microsoft gunning at mobile platforms, or loosing faith in the dominance of x86?
If they expect mobile platforms keep growing and to keep not using x86, they can expect both of those by the same token.
Re: Windows 8 to introduce ARM; First Public Demonstration Expected This Week
#6Anyone have insight on whether this is Microsoft gunning at mobile platforms, or loosing faith in the dominance of x86?
You can smell their fear. As long as I can buy an ARM-based netbook subsidized by crapware/adware on Windows 8 and replace the thing with a decent OS, I'll be happy. Sadly, I won't be able to brag about using a Windows-proof computer anymore... Now, seriously, Windows failed once on RISC platforms because software vendors were not interested in supporting them. Can an ARM-based Windows desktop function when the only…
[deleted]
Re: Windows 8 to introduce ARM; First Public Demonstration Expected This Week
#7Anyone have insight on whether this is Microsoft gunning at mobile platforms, or loosing faith in the dominance of x86?
You can smell their fear. As long as I can buy an ARM-based netbook subsidized by crapware/adware on Windows 8 and replace the thing with a decent OS, I'll be happy. Sadly, I won't be able to brag about using a Windows-proof computer anymore... Now, seriously, Windows failed once on RISC platforms because software vendors were not interested in supporting them. Can an ARM-based Windows desktop function when the only…
Can an ARM-based Windows desktop function when the only software it runs is Windows?
They've done a half-decent enough job with Windows 7 to get people to move from XP, even when app support is patchy. Offer some compatibility, so that people don't rule out switching, but not enough compatibility to allow the software makers to remain complacent... That's the trick.
They have a ton of resources, and some half-decent developers, maybe they'll introduce an x86 compatibility layer.
Re: Windows 8 to introduce ARM; First Public Demonstration Expected This Week
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can smell their fear. As long as I can buy an ARM-based netbook subsidized by crapware/adware on Windows 8 and replace the thing with a decent OS, I'll be happy. Sadly, I won't be able to brag about using a Windows-proof computer anymore... Now, seriously, Windows failed once on RISC platforms because software vendors were not interested in supporting them. Can an ARM-based Windows desktop function when the only…
[deleted]
> Windows failed on RISC because when x86 proved too competitive
I remember distinctly how much faster Alpha-based workstations were in comparison to its Pentium Pro cousins. Unfortunately, I couldn't run many programs I had to (Office, for instance, ran under emulation, at Pentium-like speeds). I could run SQL Server and pretty much that was it. And notepad. And Minesweeper.
I can imagine a niche for high-density ARM-based servers running IIS, but, unless licensing is very cheap, I cannot imagine someone paying for Windows on four ARM blades when the same Windows on one x86 blade could do the same work. When licensing is a big part of the whole stack, the hardware evolves in weird, sometimes unpractical, ways.
That happened before too. When the most common Windows version (because it could run lots of popular software), was the 9x series, x86 processors were under specific evolutionary pressures and ended up with deep pipelines and insanely high clocks to remain acceptably fast until past 2000 (and entered an evolutionary dead-end). At the same time, RISC-based boxes that ran Unix routinely had more than one processor since the low 90's. I always thought it interesting that by the time AMD64 was announced, I was retiring our 5-year-old 64-bit mail server.
Re: Windows 8 to introduce ARM; First Public Demonstration Expected This Week
#9Anyone have insight on whether this is Microsoft gunning at mobile platforms, or loosing faith in the dominance of x86?
You can smell their fear. As long as I can buy an ARM-based netbook subsidized by crapware/adware on Windows 8 and replace the thing with a decent OS, I'll be happy. Sadly, I won't be able to brag about using a Windows-proof computer anymore... Now, seriously, Windows failed once on RISC platforms because software vendors were not interested in supporting them. Can an ARM-based Windows desktop function when the only…
Now, seriously, Windows failed once on RISC platforms because software vendors were not interested in supporting them. Can an ARM-based Windows desktop function when the only software it runs is Windows?
I guess a lot depends on how much developers embrace .NET; .NET apps are compiled to CLR bytecode which presumably could run on ARM devices just as easily as on Intel.
Re: Windows 8 to introduce ARM; First Public Demonstration Expected This Week
#10Uhh.
I accidentally searched reddit using this number for other posts about it, and then I refreshed the page and the site is down.
Am I being paranoid or did I accidentally break their server?