Microsoft previews ARM based Windows 8 tablets

By Tom Warren, on 2nd Jun 11 2:21 am with 17 Comments

Windows 8 ARM tablets

Microsoft demonstrated a number of early prototypes on Thursday for ARM based Windows 8 tablets.

The software giant held a technical demonstration at Computex on Thursday to demonstrate Windows 8 to hardware partners. Mike Angiulo, corporate vice president of Windows Planning, Hardware and PC Ecosystem at Microsoft, demonstrated Windows 8 on a variety of tablets. Angiulo showed how Windows 8 works across x86 and ARM-based chips. Microsoft previously introduced a technology preview of its Windows ARM support by showing off an early build of Windows 8 at CES 2011. Microsoft is partnering with ARM-based manufactures NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments to produce new Tablet devices.

“Our aim with ‘Windows 8’ is to make the user experience a natural extension of the device, from the time you turn on your PC through how you interact with the applications you know and love,” Angiulo said. “This represents a fundamental shift in Windows design that we haven’t attempted since the days of Windows 95, presenting huge opportunities for our hardware partners to innovate with new PC designs.”

Microsoft revealed its new Windows 8 user interface during the All Things Digital D9 conference on Wednesday. Windows chief Steven Sinofsky detailed the company’s future plans for Windows and revealed that the firm plans to speak more about Windows 8 at the BUILD conference in September. Windows 8 includes a new user interface which takes elements from the company’s Windows Phone 7 software. Microsoft will allow users to launch apps from a tile-based start screen, which replaces the traditional Windows Start menu. Applications include live tile notifications and fluid, natural switching between applications. Microsoft has also built in the ability to snap and resize an application to the side of the screen and multitask outside of the new touch UI. The new applications will be web powered apps built using HTML5 and JavaScript, with full access to the power of the PC. Microsoft is positioning Internet Explorer 10 at the heart of the Windows 8 app experience.

Windows 8 ARM tablet demo

Image Credits: Engadget.com

  • http://www.searingarrow.com AlienSix

    Microsoft= #WINNING

  • http://twitter.com/kenobeano Keno Butler

    video wud be nice

    • Anonymous

      yes it WOULD be

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3OIDXOI5OEMTX6Z3O5YUBFSISA Diego3336

    Finally we gonna see all kinds of integration that the DOJ’s watchdogs were preventing MS to do for the past 12 years.

    • Anonymous

      is this true?  Isn’t MS still under some EU antitrust limitations.

  • http://www.seriousinternets.com Tim Smith

    I want Windows 8 on an ARM tablet as soon as possible.

  • zzz

    A HUGE earthquake in the tech land today. Wow.

  • http://www.technokyle.com kyle

    Wow this is definitely cool… I’m an ubuntu user, if they can make it boot as fast as ubuntu then I’ll definitely switch back again

    • http://www.andrew-stockdale.co.uk Andrew Stockdale

      The hybrid boot stuff more than halves boot times by combining log off with hibernate. So when you ‘shut down’, it logs you out of windows, and then hibernates the device. When it boots back up, it resumes the hibernation and presents you with the log in screen. It means the device is powered off and consuming no power, but upon bootup it’s also not starting up all the stuff Windows has to do, dramatically improving boot times.

      And to be honest, in a tablet environment, we’re going to be looking at just send the thing to sleep nine times out of ten.

  • Alok_c

    Tom,
    Shouldn’t the sentence
        The new applications will be web powered apps built using HTML4 and
    JavaScript, with full access to
        the power of the PC.”
    instead be
        The new applications will be web powered apps built using HTML5 and
    JavaScript, with full access to
        the power of the PC.”?

    The demo video (in another link) is just super cool.  The rule of the game has changed for the mobile space with Win8 and WP7.5 / WP8.

  • Anonymous

    Imagine having these throughout the house, all networked together, just mounted on the walls but still removable when needed.  Yeah, it’d be expensive but man would it be awwwwwwesome.

  • Anonymous

    Imagine having these throughout the house, all networked together, just mounted on the walls but still removable when needed.  Yeah, it’d be expensive but man would it be awwwwwwesome.

  • http://twitter.com/jjacob2k9 jjacob2k9

    typo alert…it’s html5 not 4..

  • Anonymous

    The average consumer may be confused if given a choice between Win 8 ARM and x86 tablets. I know some guy will return an ARM tablet and say “I couldn’t get Starcraft II to run on it”

    • Jeff

      I think MS already is planning on making a distinction between the products, and educating consumers in the difference somehow. As far as SCII Blizzard will already tell you they don’t intend on supporting any touch UI, but that would also require reading on end users, which is the problem you where bringing up :-)

  • http://twitter.com/jimmyfal Jimmy Fallon

    I like it all, I’m just curious about the idiot factor and ease of use for the mass consumer. I guess if its anything like the phone, then even a total moron can figure it out.

  • http://twitter.com/jn1974 Jani Nevalainen

    What is interesting is how Windows Phone 8 will be, and is WP7 applications going to port. Tablets and WP apps have a lot of common, and they should be somehow portable. What is going to be Silverlight’s role in the future, is it a safe bet anymore on mobile land? This raises many interesting issues, really looking forward to BUILD!