Microsoft Won't Offer Windows for Smartbooks

Microsoft doesn't plan to offer a version of Windows for so-called "smartbooks," leaving the space open to Linux, Google's Android and other operating systems.

Smartbooks are a new class of device built around ARM-based chips from companies like Qualcomm, Freescale and Texas Instruments. A number of PC makers are working on smartbook designs, which are targeted at the space between smartphones and netbooks.

Microsoft's mainstream Windows operating systems are designed to run on the x86 instruction set used by Intel, and AMD and won't run on the ARM-based processors used in the new machines. The company has no plans to port a PC version of Windows over to the ARM core, said Steve Guggenheimer, who runs Microsoft's original equipment manufacturer division, in an interview at the Computex trade show in Taipei.

Microsoft does offer a version of Windows Mobile that is compatible with ARM chips but doesn't have plans to develop that for the technically more capable environment of a smartbook, he added.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/166009/microsoft_wont_offer_windows_for_smartbooks.html

Smartbooks are going to become a lot more popular over the next decade. I love the idea that they won't be running a MS OS.

I type 85 wpm on a keyboard. I type 2 wpm on those tiny loptop keyboards. :)

:shrug:

Microsoft will go where the money is. Is there really a need for another mini computing device?

MS will still have the desktop market locked up, as well as the traditional laptop market and a significant chunk of the netbook market. Not to mention the server market. "Smartbooks" will emerge as a niche market - foregoing dominance in a niche market is acceptable to the OS behemoth. Should the "smartbook," upon emergence, show some propensity for becoming the next "it" thing, MS will make an OS for it.

The new OS, code-named Snow Leopard, will use much less RAM than before and occupy a fraction of its former disk space. Rumors have it that Apple is positioning their OS to run on a multitude of smaller devices, such as the iPhone and a rumored (and highly anticipated) tablet computer.

Make no mistake: Hand-held computers are the future and if your OS doesn't fit, it's not fit to survive.

Their processors are WAY smaller than Atom processors. Plus with the battery issues they are having especially with the iPhone.

Apple is working to slim their current OS for purposes like this.

in the background. Remember they bought a chip company. We have no idea of what they might be doing.

...and the Apple-provided apps do it all the time. That's why
your iPod music fades out gently when the phone app rings
and why you can keep browsing while you talk to someone
on the phone.

Apple, for some pretty valid technical reasons, simply doesn't
*ALLOW* 3rd-party apps to background.

This may change in the future, of course.

Tesha

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

It's supposed to run much faster.

As with 10.5.7, it does everything Windows Vista does, or seems to.

We'll still need actual PCs and things to program on, but the web is the future... and Microsoft couldn't even copy that right.

I have a cellphone/PDA right now. Great for email, quick web, photos, notes, etc.

I also have a netbook. Small enough to fit in a cargo pocket but it has a 10" screen, 2GB ram, atom processor, wifi, ethernet, external monitor, etc.

It isn't very powerful (no running DBs, or latest games) but it is great for internet, media, casual games, office applications, etc.

The other nice thing is value in netbook segment. Paid $250 for mine ($299 - $50 rebate). Now I did upgrade the ram ($20) and buy expanded battery (7hrs vs 3hrs) $100 but I still find it a great value.

What do I need a smart book for? It is a serious question. 10" screen is already a compromise. It is a good balance between size and usability. A 5" screen, a processor w/ 10% of processing power of Intel Atom? I'll pass.

Netbook market will remain much larger than smartbooks for near future. who knows maybe in 2010 if smartbooks are really that popular MSFT releases a Windows 7 for Smartbooks version.

imagination of the public. Look at the mp3 player market. It wasn't that exciting until the iPod. There has to be a break out product.