Matsuda Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 Microsofts's Executive Vice President of Devices and Studios, Julie Larson-Green, has strongly hinted that Windows RT could be disappearing from the Windows line-up at some point in the future. IN a Q&A session at the UBS Global Technology Summit earlier in the week, Larson-Green was asked about the initial launch of Surface and the confusion that the existence of Windows RT caused.Hear the word Windows and you probably immediately think of the desktop version of Windows 8.1 -- it's easy to forget that Windows RT exists, and Windows Phone is usually thought of as being an entirely separate entity. At Microsoft, these are seen as three branches from the same tree, but it is fair to say that there has been some confusion about the difference between Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1.In the Q&A session, Larson-Green agreed that both consumers and suppliers had been confused by the two variants of Windows 8, going on to say that the aim with Windows RT was to create a "closed, turnkey experience" much like Apple has done with iOS. Explaining the reason for the two different branches of Windows, Larson-Green said that the aim was to create one system that delivered the full power of a PC, and another that provided the simplicity of a tablet.She did admit that the goal had not been explained "super-well" and said that more could have been done to differentiate between the two. She also went as far as saying that Windows RT "doesn't have all the flexibility of Windows". But what she says next is particularly interesting."We have the Windows Phone OS. We have Windows RT and we have full Windows. We're not going to have three. We do think there's a world where there is a more mobile operating system that doesn't have the risks to battery life, or the risks to security. But, it also comes at the cost of flexibility. So we believe in that vision and that direction and we're continuing down that path."So what is meant by those six little word "we're not going to have three"?There are a few options open to Microsoft here. Windows Phone and RT could be merged into a single mobile platform, Windows RT could be renamed so as not to include the Windows name and hopefully eliminate confusion, or Windows RT could just be completely dropped.Which route do you think makes the most sense? Was Windows RT badly thought out? Can Microsoft rescue the platform and make it a success?Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whoopenstein Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 Only way for M$ to redeem themselves on this is to offer a compatability upgrade patch for RT. Is this possible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janedoe Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 (edited) Only way for M$ to redeem themselves on this is to offer a compatability upgrade patch for RT. Is this possible?What exactly do you mean by "compatability (sic) upgrade patch"? If you mean can they magically add support for x86 desktop apps that you use on "normal" Windows, then no this is simply not possible due to the difference in CPU architecture (WinRT is for ARM devices only).It should however be trivial for Microsoft to update WinRT to drop the strict desktop app MS certificate requirement. This would result in an official jail-break (as those xda guys managed with WinRT 8) and allow all third-party desktop recompiled ARM apps to run freely. This by itself would make the OS immensely more powerful and mitigate/negate all existing complaints about the lack of Metro apps. However there are obvious reasons why Microsoft will never do this. WinRT is meant to be locked down tightly and kept (as far as possible) malware free just like iOS.What JLG said only reinforces what MS has already stated, that WinRT and Windows Phone (both for ARM) will merge eventually (first the stores, then the APIs and finally a single version, whatever it may be called). At that point there'll be WinRT/WinPhone, "normal" x86 Windows and the XBox One variant (which may also see full API compatibility with the other versions eventually since the next gen console is basically running on standard x86 hardware). Edited November 24, 2013 by janedoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insanedown58 Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 They should merge Windows Phone 8 and RT (unless they already have) that way it could be a bit more powerful and would need less work to optimize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CODYQX4 Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 (edited) . Edited April 28, 2019 by CODYQX4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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