A few months ago Microsoft Corp. announced it was building a version of Windows to run on ARM architecture, the kind found in system-on-a-chip silicon used by smartphones, tablets and other portable devices.
Around a month ago Microsoft surprised attendees at its MIX developer conference in Las Vegas by demoing an apparently fully-functional version of Windows on ARM architecture – quite a speedy turnaround for the usually lumbering beast from Redmond.
The announcement that the new, ARM-powered version of Windows will not support Windows software developed for Intel Corp.’s x86 architecture (so-called “legacy apps”) came from Intel Services and Software Group’s GM Renée James at an Intel investor meeting in Santa Clara. According to The Register, James said of the software:
“On ARM, there’ll be the new experience, which is very specifically around the mobile experience, specifically around tablet and some limited clamshell, with no legacy OS. Our competitors will not be running legacy applications. Not now. Not ever.”
Intel has been on the defensive after U.K.-based ARM began to make massive inroads in the mobile sector. The popular ARM architecture now powers just about any mobile device you care to name, including many produced by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., HTC Corp. and Apple Inc. While Intel has been promising to attack the mobile sector with the burning passion of a thousand suns, it has yet to see any handsets reach the market with x86 chips under the hood, and only a handful of poorly received tablets.
With Intel’s long-time competitor AMD seeing something of a resurgence with its APU technology, and ARM now threatening Intel’s core markets, the giant chip maker is obviously keen to put a dampener on the British Chippie’s efforts, worrying that ARM’s comparable performance, better heat management and lower power draw could whisk away the laptop market once Windows is on board.
