Now before you go all crazy I don’t mean making a Windows 8 tablet that’s running a mobile operating system like iOS on the Apple iPad 2. What I mean by building a Windows 8 tablet PC that offers iPad 2 benefits. Benefits that include 10 hours of battery life, quick boot and instant-on from sleep, speedy operation throughout the operating system, and a physical weight of 1.33 pounds. Is a Windows tablet with those features even possible?
In the history of the tablet PC there have been some lightweight models but those models were supplied with some very low-end specifications which ruined the Windows experiences. Also in the tablet PC’s history there have been some very powerful models released but they were also very expensive (close to $1000 starting prices), heavy (more than 3x an iPad 2), and battery life was iffy.
Microsoft Windows 8 demo at Computex 2011 for partners Everything about the Windows tablet PC’s past says that an iPad 2-like tablet is not possible. However Microsoft has unveiled Windows 8, and unlike previous Windows tablets the Windows 8 models can use ARM processors instead of the X86 Intel or AMD chips.
Microsoft has shown off Windows 8 running on ARM in a few live demonstrations but those demos haven’t shown anything that could be considered really amazing. In the demos the presenters have only shown Windows 8 on ARM doing one major task (playing a H.264 HD video or running Notepad), basically the demos have shown things that people already knew modern ARM processors were able to do. I haven’t seen a demo that shows multiple programs running at once.
I don’t know about you but when I’m using a full operating system like Windows I’m doing more than just one thing at a time. As I write this article on my Windows 7 computer I’m running 83 processes with six major programs running (Google Chrome, Firefox, Foobar2000, WordPad, VLC Player, and MajicJack) and my computer isn’t lagging at all.
Microsoft presents Windows 8 like it will be a Windows 7-like experience but with a new touch-friendly mode that’s available for users to mess around with on a touchscreen. Right now with Windows 7 Microsoft offers various versions for buyers to run on their PC, there is even a stripped down version for low-powered computers like net-books (Windows 7 Starter Edition). Will Microsoft have a Windows 8 Tablet Edition available for ARM-powered tablets?
The Apple iPad 2 runs on an ARM processor and the operating system that was built specifically for that type of processor. When Microsoft launches Windows 8 it’s not really clear if they will offer an ARM only edition but my guess is they won’t it due to the extra confusion that would create. You see all the applications that Windows 7 can run right now on X86 processors aren’t coded for ARM support. Microsoft has spoken about creating tailored apps for Windows 8 that work for ARM powered tablet PC’s but it’s only talk about this point.
Microsoft is expected to launch Windows 8 sometime in the early part of 2012, and tablet PC’s running the OS might get shown off at CES in early January of 2012. Now whether a Windows 8 OEM or even Microsoft themselves will have a tablet ready, that can offer those iPad 2 benefits mentioned above, by early 2012 for a live demonstration is unknown.
In the history of the tablet PC there have been some lightweight models but those models were supplied with some very low-end specifications which ruined the Windows experiences. Also in the tablet PC’s history there have been some very powerful models released but they were also very expensive (close to $1000 starting prices), heavy (more than 3x an iPad 2), and battery life was iffy.
Microsoft Windows 8 demo at Computex 2011 for partners Everything about the Windows tablet PC’s past says that an iPad 2-like tablet is not possible. However Microsoft has unveiled Windows 8, and unlike previous Windows tablets the Windows 8 models can use ARM processors instead of the X86 Intel or AMD chips.
Microsoft has shown off Windows 8 running on ARM in a few live demonstrations but those demos haven’t shown anything that could be considered really amazing. In the demos the presenters have only shown Windows 8 on ARM doing one major task (playing a H.264 HD video or running Notepad), basically the demos have shown things that people already knew modern ARM processors were able to do. I haven’t seen a demo that shows multiple programs running at once.
I don’t know about you but when I’m using a full operating system like Windows I’m doing more than just one thing at a time. As I write this article on my Windows 7 computer I’m running 83 processes with six major programs running (Google Chrome, Firefox, Foobar2000, WordPad, VLC Player, and MajicJack) and my computer isn’t lagging at all.
Microsoft presents Windows 8 like it will be a Windows 7-like experience but with a new touch-friendly mode that’s available for users to mess around with on a touchscreen. Right now with Windows 7 Microsoft offers various versions for buyers to run on their PC, there is even a stripped down version for low-powered computers like net-books (Windows 7 Starter Edition). Will Microsoft have a Windows 8 Tablet Edition available for ARM-powered tablets?
The Apple iPad 2 runs on an ARM processor and the operating system that was built specifically for that type of processor. When Microsoft launches Windows 8 it’s not really clear if they will offer an ARM only edition but my guess is they won’t it due to the extra confusion that would create. You see all the applications that Windows 7 can run right now on X86 processors aren’t coded for ARM support. Microsoft has spoken about creating tailored apps for Windows 8 that work for ARM powered tablet PC’s but it’s only talk about this point.
Microsoft is expected to launch Windows 8 sometime in the early part of 2012, and tablet PC’s running the OS might get shown off at CES in early January of 2012. Now whether a Windows 8 OEM or even Microsoft themselves will have a tablet ready, that can offer those iPad 2 benefits mentioned above, by early 2012 for a live demonstration is unknown.
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