Why Microsoft Windows 8 will run on ARM

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It would not be hard for Microsoft to run Windows on ARM. It has runs its Windows CE on ARM for years, so it has intimate knowledge of the hardware.

 

Microsoft licensed the ARM core recently, but didn't say why. One reason could be it wanted to get intimate knowledge of what a 64-bit ARM implementation would be like for Windows 8.

 

With ARM pushing toward desktop and even server markets, it will need to deliver a 64-bit core. Again, the Windows 8 timeframe would be about right.

 

I asked Jeff Chu, director of mobile computing for ARM what he thought about Windows 8 on ARM. "It would be a fantastic thing to see," he said.

 

Of course Windows on ARM doesn't erase the advantages of the x86, ARM's archrival. Many applications and tools would still have hooks into the x86 that would give Intel (and AMD and Via) an advantage in some markets.

 

But Windows 8 on ARM is the next major step to leveling the playing field between ARM and Intel in a market where they are bound for head-to-head competition.

 

Source: EE Times