Bloomberg is reporting that Microsoft will announce at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Demonstrate (CES) a edition of Windows that can function on ARM.If I had been a betting woman, I;d wager against my esteemed colleagues/competitors on this one. As an alternative, I would wager that Microsoft will announce a new version of Windows Embedded Compact which will function on ARM-based tablets.I;m thinking this could take place for some reasons:* Windows Embedded Compact/Windows CE currently runs on ARM* Microsoft is shut to releasing to production its Embedded Compact 7 version of that platform (It absolutely was meant to RTM this yr, but was delayed until Q1 2011.)* Microsoft has been working to port Windows to ARM (as much back again as with Vista, under challenge LongARM), but both couldn;t or wouldn;t release that portSteven Guggenheimer,
Microsoft Office Standard 2010 Product Key, Microsoft;s OEM chief — who, from the past,
Office 2010 Home And Student Activation, has been a champion of Windows Embedded Compact tablets and slates — is slated to address Wall Street analysts on January 6, 2011, the day after Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer;s CES kick-off speech. Guggenheimer may be the guy to talk about Microsoft;s evolving Windows slate strategy, but I;m considering, given his past speeches, he;s going to talk up Embedded Compact tablets.Microsoft execs have been unclear, perhaps intentionally, perhaps not — about exactly what counts as a “Windows” tablet/slate. When Ballmer talked about Microsoft;s longer-range tablet/slate plans earlier this yr,
Microsoft Office Home And Student 2010 Product Key, he showed a slide with 20+ Microsoft OEM tablet/slate partners. Many of those partners are while in the business of providing Embedded Compact/CE mobile devices.My understanding is Windows 7 slates and Windows Embedded Compact seven slates won;t be able to run the same apps. Because both platforms will support Silverlight,
Office 2010 Home And Student, there could be some cross-platform synergies. And who knows — maybe Microsoft will port the Metro/Media Center UI to Windows Compact Embedded. That would be the next-best thing to bringing the full Windows Phone OS to tablets or slates (something the Softies have said they at the moment are not planning to do).But remember: Just because something is called a “Windows” tablet, even by Microsoft, might not necessarily mean it is running the same Windows OS that runs on PCs.CES is just a few weeks away. It;ll be interesting to see what the Softies have to say about slates, regardless of which OS they are running.Update: The Wall Street Journal also is saying a new edition of Windows for tablets is coming but is a couple years away. That sounds, as Business Insider;s Matt Rosoff noted,
Office 2010 Home And Student, like Windows 8. (Or maybe it will be more like a Windows 8 “Lite”?) If it is Windows 8, maybe the long journey involving porting Windows to ARM will finally culminate in a shipping product (albeit 1 that is timed to arrive in late 2012/early 2013).In any event, Microsoft is not commenting on any reports about its CES plans….