Mobile devices that use ARM processors with the upcoming Windows 8 operating system will not be able to run legacy applications, Engadget reports. This means that the age-old apps from earlier versions of Windows will need to be retooled or completely rewritten to be compatible with the next generation of Windows tablets.
(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)
Microsoft announced earlier this year that it would be widening its operating system offerings to support ARM-based processors from the likes of Qualcomm, Nvidia and Texas Instruments, shaking up a landscape previously dominated by hardware giant, Intel. ARM processors are a lower power alternative to the x86 processors made by Intel, AMD and others. The slim chips give mobile devices running iOS and Android a better battery life; meanwhile current Windows-based tablets have suffered poor battery life.
Microsoft’s decision to embrace ARM is one way it's adapting to reach the mobile space, something Intel is still struggling with. Intel has yet to come out with a mobile processor, and today announced a delay of its smartphone platform launch from later this year to 2012.
For now, the company seems to be using the legacy compatibility news to crow over the competition. The news itself came from Intel Senior VP Renee James, who Engadget quoted saying, "Our competitors will not be running legacy applications. Not now. Not ever."
But legacy incompatibility is not an insurmountable hurdle. Rather it's an indication that Microsoft is recognizing the need to nail the mobile version of its globally dominant OS. Rewriting older applications is fairly common in an era of competing mobile platforms (and increased popularity in non-Windows operating systems). Let's not forget, this was a challenge programmers successfully met when Apple's Mac OS X came out. Sure, there was a Classic environment, but there was no native support for older Mac apps.
More about Windows 8 on Technolog:
- Sneak Peek: Is this Microsoft's Windows 8 App Store?
- Will we see Windows 8 tablet in June?
- Microsoft quietly kicks off CES: No Windows 8 announcement
Check out Technolog on Facebook, and follow tablet fan Nidhi Subbaraman on Twitter.
