Windows 8 ARM Will Not Support Legacy Software 381
An anonymous reader writes "Intel, speaking out of turn and damaging its intimate relationship with Microsoft, has revealed that legacy x86-compiled software will not work on the ARM version of Windows 8. Microsoft has promised that the Office suite will be available on Windows 8 ARM, but beyond that, nothing. While this means there won't be many compatible apps at launch, it also means this will be the first full-bodied version of Windows that won't (initially) be susceptible to viruses and malware..."
Re:they already have windows for arm (Score:4, Interesting)
The problem with those cheap wince based laptops, is they're advertised as running windows, which means people buying them often expect that they run the same windows they may already have on a desktop, or have at work etc... Once they get it, they are usually severely disappointed and this usually results in a very high return rate.
Another ARM version of windows is likely to do the same thing, disappoint users, fragment the brand and end up with lots of returns...
An ARM based version of linux on the other hand could sell very well, if its properly marketed... Users would have no preconceptions about it, and take the devices for what they are. Just make sure there is a proper linux distro, not the crippled versions that came with the first round of x86 netbooks... And make sure the benefits of linux are well advertised to users, especially the package manager.
Re:Why buy a Window's device... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: a-duh (Score:4, Interesting)
And that is the really shocking thing that will actually kill the platform - fragmentation. All of these different versions will be incompatible with each other, forwards and backwards. Intel must be laughing their asses off.
The lack of a standard "ARM platform" has already been a big problem for Linux netbooks. They're all x86 because each ARM platform is different and requires a different BSP, making ongoing support a complete nightmare. I have to say, I really expected Microsoft to force the ARM SoC makers to standardise.
The lack of any sort of x86 emulator is really the icing on the cake. The big advantage of Windows is gone. But I suppose there is still a possibility of a third-party emulator like the original Virtual PC for Mac.
Its not just about instruction sets (Score:4, Interesting)
This just in, x86 and ARM instruction sets are NOT compatible! Everyone panic! Blame MS! No, wait... Sony must have had a hand in this!
File this under no shit, Sherlock.
I think what intel is saying is that MS are:
that Windows 8 is going to drop some of legacy API support available in WIndows 7 - and while Win8 x86 is going to offer a "classic" mode this won't be available on ARM (...I wonder if this is a reference to the existing virtualization-based legacy mode in Win7/Vista?)
Of course, what Microsoft gets and Intel apparently doesn't is that Win8/ARM's main competitors will not be other Windows machines (as was the case when Windows NT briefly supported other processors such as Alpha) but against iOS and Android in the mobile world and Linux in the server world. If Win8/ARM netbooks can run "geniune" MS Office and Win8/ARM servers talk "genuine" Active Directory and Exchange Server, along with lots of "modern" windows software written in .NET, some people will choose them over iOS, Android or Linux. Intel will surely be the solution of choice for corporates wanting to run their 1990-era dBaseII systems - but even that market will eventually fade away.
As for tablets and smartphones - they'll need custom-designed software anyway so legacy is irrelevant.
(* Hell, I was running x86 PC software via an emulator on my ARM3-based desktop back in 1990 - but the ARM3 was a desktop superchip that smoked the 286s of the day... maybe ARM will make a triumphant return to the desktop, but it will need a 64-bit makeover and a FPU).
Re: I think the point here is that... (Score:5, Interesting)
The only stupid question is one that isn't asked. Nobody knows everything (and I asked the question before I had my first cup of coffee). I got my UID by being on slashdot ten years or so ago. I'm 59 years old and my synapses aren't as well oiled as they used to be.
My first computer was a slide rule. My second computer I built out of two potentiometers, a voltmeter, and a battery. When I was a teenager I made a little extra cash by converting cheap transistor radios into guitar fuzzboxes and selling them to friends.
These days it's fashionable to be a nerd, but I was a nerd back when we were pariahs.
Since Linux runs well on ARM, then I don't see what the big deal is about not being able to run legacy Windows apps in Win 8. All you'd have to do would be to install Linux dual-boot on your Windows 8 machine, and run your legacy Windows apps under Wine in Linux. Maybe I still need more coffee...
Re:.NET (Score:4, Interesting)
Unfortunately, as people trying to get .NET apps to run on Mono have found, a very significant portion of those .NET apps do actually call unmanaged code.