Windows 8 ARM Heading Out to Devs (1/28/2012)

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As the topic says, I wonder if we can get a working copy on the Prime. Story follows:

CNET's Brooke Crothers says that his sources have told him that Windows 8 is now stable on the ARM platform and will be seeded to developers soon. He also suggests that the ARM versions of Windows 8 will indeed include the legacy Windows desktop.

"Windows 8 on ARM should go to developers in February, said one source, who had some hands-on time with a high-profile device from a major PC maker, adding that Windows 8 was impressive and stable," Crothers writes. "In October of last year [Windows 8 on ARM] scared the industry because it was unstable. But what we are seeing now is quite stable, said another source, who also confirmed an expected February developer time frame."

Among the other tidbits of interest in this post:

Less expensive. ARM-based Windows 8 devices will be less expensive than those based on x86 ... to the tune of "hundreds of dollars less on ARM. "

ARM and x86 releases will not be staggered. Despite rumors that the ARM- and x86-based versions of Windows 8 might ship at different times, Crothers's sources say that's not so. "The release of Windows 8 on ARM should not be later than the release of Windows 8 on Intel," the post notes.

Microsoft Office. According to one of Crothers's sources, "Office is fine [on ARM]." If true, this means that the legacy Windows desktop will be included on ARM-based versions of Windows.

Legacy applications. As expected, however, normal legacy applications will not work on ARM without being recompiled for that platform. "I'm not aware of any third-party legacy applications running on Windows 8 on ARM," one source told CNET.

Why so secret. One of the most vexing things about dealing with Microsoft these days is the veil of secrecy around anything about Windows 8. The app compatibility story on ARM-based Windows 8 versions may be a big part of this, the report suggests. "That's one of the snags that Microsoft is trying to work through. You want to come out with a fairly robust library of applications, one source said. Both believe this is one of the reasons Microsoft is being cautious about demonstrating Windows 8 on ARM."

Interesting stuff.

Source:
http://www.winsupersite.com/blog/sup...elopers-142084

OG won't be an washy port. As Microsoft added some very secure securities to it to prevent being dual booted or loaded onto devices originally not meant for it. That's the first issue. Second issue is Microsoft released VERY STRICT GUIDELINES ON REQUIREMENTS OF SPECS in order for device to be able to run win 8. Take a look at them. Its crazy what they requiring. DEVELOPERS will have to work around this as prime or even future models don't met those specs. Actually no android tablet out now or coming Mets those specs.

Originally Posted by demandarin

OG won't be an washy port. As Microsoft added some very secure securities to it to prevent being dual booted or loaded onto devices originally not meant for it. That's the first issue. Second issue is Microsoft released VERY STRICT GUIDELINES ON REQUIREMENTS OF SPECS in order for device to be able to run win 8. Take a look at them. Its crazy what they requiring. DEVELOPERS will have to work around this as prime or even future models don't met those specs. Actually no android tablet out now or coming Mets those specs.

nah that's just Microsoft being Microsoft.

I'm actually getting sort of use to Android now with the TPS, and now finding myself slip up and try to scroll with two fingers on my laptop's mousepad.

Originally Posted by the_game_master

nah that's just Microsoft being Microsoft.

I'm actually getting sort of use to Android now with the TPS, and now finding myself slip up and try to scroll with two fingers on my laptop's mousepad.

$5 says if you install the latest drivers (synaptic I assume) from mfr site you can. The touch pad does NOT need to support multi touch, they basically say if it detects wierd input, assume 2 fingers for scrolling. Even worked on my old Pentium M which was definitely not multi touch. Won't give you pinch zoom like the new models but 2 finger scrolling is FORWARD compatible, at least with synaptic.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

Originally Posted by the_game_master

nah that's just Microsoft being Microsoft.

I'm actually getting sort of use to Android now with the TPS, and now finding myself slip up and try to scroll with two fingers on my laptop's mousepad.

I find myself poking the screen on laptops now.... trying to scroll websites and launch programs

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by Wordlywisewiz

I find myself poking the screen on laptops now.... trying to scroll websites and launch programs

Right? I and the when I try to go back to using the touchpad its like I have never used it before.

Ignore the Windows 8 ARM requirements. It is easy to install every previous version of Windows on much lower specs.

Back in February 2011, Microsoft was doing Tegra 2 demonstrations of Windows 8 on a very low-spec tablet.

Windows 8 can run very well on the Prime, it will just take time to get everything working.

Originally Posted by xTRICKYxx

Ignore the Windows 8 ARM requirements. It is easy to install every previous version of Windows on much lower specs.

Back in February 2011, Microsoft was doing Tegra 2 demonstrations of Windows 8 on a very low-spec tablet.

Windows 8 can run very well on the Prime, it will just take time to get everything working.

Good news to hear then. Can't wait till dual boot possibility then. Hopefully it can be as simple as an apk install..lol I had an old tilt2(rhodium) win mote phone. I was able to dualboot android, xdandroid, thru just a cab install.

Originally Posted by Wordlywisewiz

I find myself poking the screen on laptops now.... trying to scroll websites and launch programs

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk

When my mother wanted to see if she could borrow my old notebook, I did that too, a lot....which oddlyshe had tried with my netbook once when fiddling with it, before getting a tablet lol.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by demandarin

OG won't be an washy port. As Microsoft added some very secure securities to it to prevent being dual booted or loaded onto devices originally not meant for it. That's the first issue. Second issue is Microsoft released VERY STRICT GUIDELINES ON REQUIREMENTS OF SPECS in order for device to be able to run win 8. Take a look at them. Its crazy what they requiring. DEVELOPERS will have to work around this as prime or even future models don't met those specs. Actually no android tablet out now or coming Mets those specs.

Going by this:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/w...the-ugly/17773

The specs aren't higher as much as they are just different and in some cases lower than what the Prime already offers.

* Display has to be 1366x768
- The current Prime is already 1280x800, which is darn close, I don't see problems fitting UI elements designed for a 1366x768 screen. And there are already tablets that will support 1920x1200 soon (next Prime demoed at recent CES). So some Android tablets have already surpassed that spec.

* Cameras must be 720p or better.
- Who cares, the back camera already surpasses this, but again software shouldn't care about this spec.

* Physical ‘touch marks’ for NFC hardware sensor to make using it easier.
- Whatever, just disable NFC support.

* One USB port, Bluetooth 4.0, WLAN, gyro, accelerometer, speakers, light sensor, and magnetometer must be fitted.
- With dock we have USB, Bluetooth is 3.0 is what we have currently, this might be a bit tricky to port depending on the driver model. I'm guessing the Magnetometer is for a fall sensor if you have a physical spinning hard disk in your tablet (yuck). And we have the rest already.

* Firmware must be UEFI
-Possibly trickiest requirement to get through depending on the OS software checks.

* USB 2.0 support.
- We have USB 3.0 support already, another spec the Prime has surpassed.

* Mandatory hardware buttons: power, rotation lock, windows key, volume up and volume down buttons.
- Rotation lock can be done via software, windows key might be trickier to implement. Hopefully we can do something like Button Savior does for Android (on screen soft buttons to emulate hardware buttons)

* Five point touch
- Another spec surpassed, we already have a 10 point touch sensor on the Prime.

* 10 GB free storage space.
-Easy to come by on our 32GB and 64GB Primes.

And what I would consider the most important spec isn't even specified, which is minimum CPU required for acceptable performance, classic Microsoft to only specify minimums for the surpuflous crap.