One of the biggest new additions to Windows 8 that we knew about early on is that it was moving beyond the x86 processors from Intel and AMD. Joining the party is ARM

1. January 31, 2012
batteryfast.co.uk
Windows 8 Joining on ARM , Prepares to
Power Cheap Ultra-Thin Laptops
Windows 8 Joining on ARM , Prepares to There’s been speculation before that the final release
Power Cheap Ultra-Thin Laptops of Windows 8 for the different architectures would
be staggered — x86 and x64 arriving first and ARM
CloudTags: Windows 8 , ARM , ultra-thin , laptops arriving later on. It’s at least four months behind as
, Power , Acer as07b41 , Hp pavilion dv6 batteries , far as public previews go, but ARM is a totally new
Acer aspire 5920 gambit for Microsoft. It’s possible that the folks in
Redmond just wanted to make sure that the ARM
build was a little bit more polished and camera-
ready before handing it out, and that both versions
will launch at the same time.
http://www.batteryfast.co.uk/battery-technology/windows-8-joining-on-arm-prepares-to-power-cheap-ultra-thin-laptops/
Regardless of when it hits,
there’s one foregone conclu-
sion about Windows 8 and
ARM: systems built using
this pairing could cost hun-
dreds of dollars less than
their Intel counterparts. Ul-
trabooks in particular will
come under fire as ultra-thin
ARM laptops arrive with Windows 8 on board. The
modus operandi of an Ultrabook is to be thin, light,
One of the biggest new additions to Windows 8 that powerful, and provide plenty of battery life. ARM’s
we knew about early on is that it was moving beyond processors are renowned for their efficiency, and
the x86 processors from Intel and AMD. Joining the with the recent arrival of quad-core chips that push
party is ARM, whose chip architecture powers a speeds up to 2.5GHz, they should provide plenty of
staggering number of mobile phones, tablets, media processing muscle for Windows 8 users.
players, plug computers, energy-efficient servers,
and set top boxes. Microsoft has already shown off The sticky wicket, of course, is legacy applications.
Windows 8 on ARM a few times, but now they’re An Intel or AMD powered Windows 8 system will
ready to take the next step and release a developer be able to run any of the millions of x86 or x64
preview. apps that already exist for Windows 7 (and previous
versions). Windows 8 on ARM won’t ship with the
Up until now we’ve been limited to an x86 or x64Win- ability to run that code, however, so apps will need
dows 8 download. Now, however, the ARM version to be re-compiled.
has progressed to the point where it’s stable enough
to get it into developers’ hands. For consumers who are after a bargain-priced
Windows 8 tablet or laptop, however, ARM models
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2. January 31, 2012
batteryfast.co.uk
Windows 8 Joining on ARM , Prepares to Power Cheap Ultra-Thin Laptops
should be an extremely attractive option. They’ll
still have access to plenty of apps in the Windows
Store, after all.
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http://www.batteryfast.co.uk/battery-technology/windows-8-joining-on-arm-prepares-to-power-cheap-ultra-thin-laptops/
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