DailyTech - ARM, Microsoft Team up to Make 64-Bit ARM Windows

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Gadgets ARM, Microsoft Team up to Make 64-Bit ARM Windows
Jason Mick (Blog) - November 2, 2012 5:13 PM

34 comment(s) - last by Helbore.. on Nov 5 at 6:15 PM

New operating system(s) could target the consumer (mobile, traditional) and enterprise spaces

In the wake of ARM Holdings Plc.'s (LON:ARM) announcement of the upcoming 2014 ARM Cortex-A50 cores, ARM's first 64-bit processors, the company had more big news to share.

Ian Forsyth, program manager at ARM, announced this week that Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) was onboard and the two companies were working together closely to make sure one or more versions of Windows support the new iteration of the low-power architecture.

Nandan Nayampally, head of ARM's processor marketing division, wrote to PC World in an email, "ARM works with all its OS and ecosystem partners to inform them on next generation technologies and enable their support."

The current version of Windows 8 for ARM chips -- Windows RT -- only supports 32-bit chips. Likewise, Windows Server 2012 is expected to bring ARM server chip support -- but no 64-bit support. That's not much of a problem because, as mentioned, 64-bit ARM CPUs won't land for another two years.

_{Samsung's Ativ Tab is among a crop of initial Windows RT products.}

Early retail Windows RT products include Microsoft's Surface and ASUSTek Computer Inc. (TPE:2357) Vivo Tab RT, both of which use NVIDIA Corp.'s (NVDA) quad-core, 32-bit Tegra 3 system-on-a-chip (SoC). Dell, Inc.'s (DELL) XPS 10 and Samsung Electronics Comp., Ltd. (KSC:005930) P8510 Ativ Tab instead use the dual-core variety of Qualcomm, Inc.'s (QCOM) Snapdragon 4, also a 32-bit chip.

x86 software does not run natively on ARM architecture chips, or vice versa. That means that any application you want to run will need to have been freshly recompiled for Windows on ARM (WOA).

The grunt work is not limited to recompilation. Microsoft will have a lot of hard work ahead looking to port and optimize Windows 8 or its successor to work with the new ARMv8 64-bit instruction set extensions.

Source: ARM

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RE: You kno what this announcement means

By Luticus on 11/2/2012 11:37:15 PM , Rating: 2

of all my issues with windows 8, metro isn't one of them. Oddly I like windows 8 on a desktop and most of my issues are with the tablet version of the OS. I find myself missing "flicks", the windows 7 virtual keyboard, and other aero features that were removed in Microsoft attempt to placate stupid people who aren't smart enough to resize the elements of the interface of which all were adjustable. Metro is the least of my worries and I will spend the better part of next year in visual studio trying to restore the missing functionality so I can enjoy the best of both worlds. If I get too annoyed I might just drop back to 7 on my tablet for the time being.

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RE: You kno what this announcement means

By Samus on 11/3/2012 1:32:28 AM , Rating: 3

huh, funny, my complaints are the complete opposite. I think it's great in tablet form, which brings me to the problems with the desktop version. It is clearly designed around a touch interface. Using it on a laptop or desktop without a touch screen renders Metro somewhat useless. Yeah you still get live tiles but navigating them, the inability to swipe in from the corners, and a plethora of other technologies can't be taken advantage of.

I think this is why most people don't understand Metro, because they haven't experienced it the way it should be experienced, and the ONLY way it should be experienced.

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RE: You kno what this announcement means

By inighthawki on 11/3/2012 3:36:11 AM , Rating: 2

The biggest problem I have with those people though is, even if they don't fully understand or appreciate it from using a tablet, the only thing that has really changed in the desktop is the start menu, which has been replaced with a full screen version with all the same functionality. Yet these people complain nonstop about how Windows 8 was crippled... it has the same desktop as 7!

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RE: You kno what this announcement means

By tayb on 11/4/2012 9:43:05 AM , Rating: 3

The desktop has seen huge improvements in performance and usability.

-Windows 8 is faster. It boots faster, wakes faster, and operates faster. Seriously. Go look at benchmarks. It's crazy.
-Hyper-V built in
-Anti-virus built in
-Huge enhancements to the task manager (no more msconfig to disable startup apps)
-File history. I backup but it's a useful feature
-Task bar is configurable and will now show up on multiple monitors (No more ultramon... $40)
-"Power Menu" in the bottom left (right click) saves me so much time and clicks
-Windows explorer ribbon
-Windows to go
-LARGE DISK SUPPORT
-Storage spaces (so incredibly useful)
-Picture passwords (I use it even on my desktop)
-PC reset/PC refresh.

I think MS made a mistake by removing the start menu and not allowing users to boot directly into the desktop. It doesn't bother me personally but it seems that a lot of people have a complete inability to cope with change. There is already a W8 bug that inserts a newly designed start menu (not start screen) on the desktop so I expect MS to release an update to address this "issue" in the coming months anyway.

For the time being the performance and usability improvements in Windows 8 more than make up for the minor annoyance of either using the start screen or installing Start8.

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RE: You kno what this announcement means

By Spuke on 11/4/2012 10:19:12 AM , Rating: 2

I don't expect Microsoft to address the start screen "issue" as the only people complaining are geeks. Some of your egos are amazing. You represent a TINY fraction of Windows sales. If you hear regular people complaining, then they'll do something but until that happens, it will stay as is.

quote:
-PC reset/PC refresh.

Forgot about this one. Neat feature.

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RE: You kno what this announcement means

By inighthawki on 11/4/2012 1:05:02 PM , Rating: 2

I think what he meant was that Microsoft may release a fix to remove all traces of the start menu, not that they will address it by adding it back in. Much in the same way people found an option to skip the start screen in the betas and boot directly to desktop, and Microsoft then patched it to explicitly disallow doing so.

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