Tweet
Microsoft's Zune HD runs a version of Windows on an Nvidia ARM chip.(Credit:Microsoft)
So, what happens to Intel in the age of a version of Windows running on top of ARM chips from companies like Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Freescale, and Nvidia?
A report today is fueling speculation that Microsoft will bring a full version of Windows to ARM--arguably the most widely used chip architecture in the world. This comes after Microsoft announced in July that it has gotten an architectural license from ARM.
The most obvious impact is that Windows runs on more devices, many of which do not necessarily use Intel processors. TheZune HD is probably the best contemporaneous example of a smaller, non-PC device. That media player runs a version of Windows CE on top of an Nvidia ARM processor. Then, of course, there isWindows Phone 7--most of those phones use an ARM-based processor from Qualcomm.
An ARM-compatible more full-featured version of Windows will almost certainly run on Intel, but the point is that Intel would be just another player among a bevy of ARM chip heavyweights, such as Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Apple, and Samsung Electronics.
Remember the Compaq iPaq handheld? That used an Intel ARM design--which Intel subsequently sold to Marvell--but iPaq handhelds also ran on other ARM chips, from suppliers such as Texas Instruments.
Future trends are the most worrisome for Intel. The smartphone and tablet market runs on ARM, and both of those device segments are beginning to act more like PCs every time a new product is announced from Apple, Motorola, Samsung, or HTC.
Until Intel brings out a more power-efficient Atom architecture, it will have a difficult time finding space in small devices such as smartphones and tablets. So, whether the report today is accurate or not is practically irrelevant, since the writing is already on the wall.
Powered by WizardRSS | Work At Home Jobs