Published at LXer:

LAS VEGAS — Jan. 5, 2011 — Microsoft Corp. today announced at 2011 International CES that the next version of Windows will support System on a Chip (SoC) architectures, including ARM-based systems from partners NVIDIA Corp., Qualcomm Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. On the x86 architecture, Intel Corporation and AMD continue their work on low-power SoC designs that fully support Windows, including support for native x86 applications. SoC architectures will fuel significant innovation across the hardware spectrum when coupled with the depth and breadth of the Windows platform. [he]lt[/he] For those of you asking what this has to do with open source: Most times ARM prototype SoC's are developed using Linux, like currently at NuFront (MS-partner), TI (think BeagleBord) and FreeScale. Only _after_ these prototypes run on Linux, they're going to receive Windows compatibility, meaning Windows will be some kind of 'afterthought' for some time. Of course, we don't know how long MS has been developing for ARM, but I'm pretty sure they're behind in ARM SoC support compared to Linux - also thanks to the Linaro initiative. And if not, at least we'll see a level playing field in which hardware doesn't work better with Windows than with Linux! - hkwint[he]gt[/he]

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