Windows 8 to boost tablet adoption in the enterprise

Windows on ARM to help Microsoft get foothold in tablet market - Analyst firm Telstye is predicting that Windows 8 will give tablets a stronger foothold in conservative enterprises that until now have been wary of the form factor, at the same time as it gives Microsoft an in in the tablet market.

Most of Microsoft's various Windows operating systems have focused on the x86 architecture, but Redmond will release a version of Windows 8 that runs on ARM chips; chips based on ARM's RISC architecture dominate the smartphone and tablet arena, and are used in Apple's iPad and iPhone as well as the overwhelming majority of Android devices.

Microsoft expects devices running Windows on ARM (WOA) to ship simultaneously with more traditional x86/64-based PCs running Windows 8. "[WOA] has a very high degree of commonality and very significant shared code with Windows 8, and will be developed for, sold, and supported as a part of the largest computing ecosystem in the world," Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live division, wrote in a Microsoft Developer Network blog entry.

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Tags: analysis | enterprise