Microsoft’s interest in bringing the modern Windows experience to ARM devices seemed rather short lived when it gave up on Windows RT, a version of Windows 8.x that was built for 32-bit ARM devices.
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Still, if Windows 10 x86 software can now run on an ARM processor, then perhaps this is also good news for Apple’s rumoured ARM-powered MacBooks to come that have no Intel chips inside.
Full Windows 10 support for ARM will enable hardware partners to create a range of lightweight, thin, power efficient, and always connected Windows 10 PCs that are capable of running x86 Win32 and universal Windows apps. Thus, Redmond is collaborating with Qualcomm to finally bring the complete Windows 10 desktop experience to its ARM-based Snapdragon processors. The processor powers numerous flagship smartphones launched in early 2016. The first, with chipmaker Qualcomm, aims once again to have Windows run atop the kind of chips more commonly used in cellphones and tablets.
The two operating systems, and especially Windows RT, had a chicken and egg problem with apps.
While Qualcomm’s processor will be available for laptop makers to use in 2017, it’s still unclear if Microsoft will choose it over Intel or AMD chips. So, it’s only natural that Qualcomm, one of the leaders in mobile processors manufacturing, is looking to enter the desktop market. According to a report in Bloomberg, the new Windows 10 OS will enable computers and tablets to run Microsoft Office Programs and Adobe Photoshop without giving up on performance. The company will pick devices having cellular connectivity. Headsets produced by Microsoft’s partners would start from US$299, or about a tenth the price of a HoloLens.
Microsoft and Qualcomm have revealed that full featured Windows 10 will run on the next generation of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors.
There may be some obstacles in achieving this goal, however, as Microsoft will need to convince cellular carriers to sell plans through the Windows Store. Microsoft expects to get the OK and begin selling the devices in the first half of 2017.
Will people ditch their iPhones and Android phones overnight for Windows 10 devices?
This also means that all those companies that already manufacture ARM devices, Samsung, LG, Motorola, ZTE, HTC, Asus, HP, can much more easily add a Windows 10 device to their offerings.
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This obviously plays well with a renewed effort for Microsoft in Windows phone, something that was hinted at strongly last month in an interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. This will allow devices to be connected at all times.
