Windows ARM Compatibility

Mozilla product director says Firefox on Window RT 'probably not worth it'

Computerworld - A Mozilla product director yesterday said that unless Microsoft allows other browser makers to call important APIs in Windows RT, it is "probably not worth it to even bother" building a version of Firefox for the new operating system.

Windows Weekly with Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley

This week's Windows Weekly broadcast spends about 20 minutes (from 2:00 to just past 20:00) on the topic of Microsoft banning competing browsers from Windows on ARM.

Firefox on Windows Metro on ARM

Windows on ARM Windows 8 Metro is a beautiful computing environment. Unfortunately, it's very limited when it comes to certain kinds of raw power that we're all used from the last couple of decades of Windows operating systems. Metro and the WinRT APIs that power it are great for games and simple apps, and they provide developers with the tools to make those apps stunningly beautiful, but they lack the kind of power needed to drive sophisticated programs like Web browsers and office productivity applications.

No, Windows RT Isn’t Windows . . . Yet

There's been an interesting debate lately about whether Microsoft's ARM-based derivative of Windows 8, called Windows RT, is really Windows. This debate arose out of a recent news story, in which Mozilla and Google have both complained about Microsoft's decision to prevent them from making a desktop-based web browser for Windows RT. More recently, a US Senate subcommittee has decided to investigate this complaint, which could of course have antitrust implications.

Is Microsoft mismanaging Windows on ARM?

Jon Honeyball has serious doubts about how Microsoft is handling Windows on ARM - I'm having serious doubts about the way Microsoft is handling the ARM chipset family, which it called WOA (short for Windows On ARM) and is now officially called Windows RT.

Windows RT browser concerns to be reviewed by Senate Committee

Windows on ARM At the end of last week, the Mozilla Foundation publicly voiced its concerns about certain restrictions that Microsoft is imposing on its new Windows RT operating system – the version of Windows 8 designed and optimised for ARM-based devices. Microsoft’s plan is for Internet Explorer 10 to be the only browser on Windows RT that can operate in both the new Metro and ‘classic’ Desktop environments.

Windows RT Blocks Other Browsers, Mozilla Says

Windows on ARM An attorney at Mozilla, which makes the Firefox Web browser, contended that Microsoft restricts browser choice on Windows RT (formerly known as "Windows 8 on ARM"), effectively moving the company into antitrust territory.

Why Mozilla believes Firefox on Windows RT is a bust

Windows on ARM Mozilla could bring Firefox to Windows Metro. But without access to system services that IE10 gets, it would be hobbled, and Mozilla would be shut out of a new PC segment. Technically, Microsoft hasn't banned non-IE browsers in Windows RT, the forthcoming Windows 8 version for machines with ARM processors. But as Mozilla sees it, Microsoft may as well have.

Unfair maybe, but Microsoft has the right to bar browsers from Windows RT

Suddenly, the new Microsoft doesn't look all that different from the old one. During court proceedings for the 1998-2001 antitrust trial, government lawyers accused Microsoft of playing favorites by providing its developers access to information not available to third parties -- thus giving Internet Explorer unfair competitive advantage over Netscape. The company's browser policy regarding Windows RT isn't just much the same, it's much more. IE gets hugely exclusive access. The question: Is it anticompetitive?

Mozilla and Google accuse Microsoft of unfair browser competition

Windows on ARM Summary: Microsoft will restrict third-party browsers like Firefox and Chrome to the Metro sandbox in Windows 8 for ARM devices, while treating Internet Explorer 10 as an "intrinsic feature" of Windows. Mozilla and its primary backer, Google, say that's not fair.