Intel's boss wants to put Windows 8 into smartphones

Windows 8 is still shaping up in Redmond, but Microsoft has already dubbed it its most important Windows ever. With the 300 000+ app ecosystem of iOS, and the 100 000+ of Android, we can easily see how a kid that just got a smartphone or a tablet with those, can easily go on their merry computing way without even knowing what Windows is, ever. That is why Steve Ballmer announced at the CES show this month that Microsoft's new Windows, or a version of it, will be capable to run on ARM's mobile CPU architecture, found in current smartphones and tablets, instead of perpetuating the tired WinTel marriage.
 
Intel doesn't want to be left out, although it kind of overslept the mobile CPU revolution. Its Atom chipsets, that were supposed to power tablets or even phones, are still power hogs, with lousy integrated graphics, choking on Flash, and on top of that need a fast SSD drive, and at least 2GB of RAM to run things fairly smooth. Intel's CEO Paul Otellini said in an investors' call that if the new Windows 8 will support ARM and probably be scalable, so as to be shoved everywhere - from smartphones to TVs, then Intel can benefit from that too:

"The plus for Intel is that as they unify their operating systems, we now have the ability for the first time... to have a designed-from-scratch, touch-enabled operating system for tablets that runs on Intel that we don't have today... Secondly, we have the ability to put our lowest-power Intel processors running Windows 8 – or 'next-generation Windows' – into phones, because it's the same OS stack. And I look at that as an upside opportunity for us."

So it looks like Intel will actually be stepping up its mobile game, waiting for a Windows 8, whose interface will change and morph depending on what device it appears in, but its core will remain the same, with new Intel chips powering the show, even in phones. Honestly, we wouldn't underestimate Intel, considering its vast R&D and economies of scale capabilities.

So next year might actually see another disruption in the mobile space. If it brings us solutions similar to the Evolve III Maestro, which boots Win7, Android and MeeGo at once, while achieving 8 hours in Windows 7 mode, and sixteen in Android mode, we are all for Intel's ambitions. More so if they bring us smartphones that run a full-blown Windows version underneath a pretty user-friendly interface.

source: PCPro