Actually, MS should extend Windows RT to Windows Phone

[desura]

RT gets criticized a lot, but it is basically desktop windows on ARM. And apps written for RT can run on x86 windows IIRC, since they share a store. This is a pretty big deal.

Windows Phone would do well if apps written for it could also be run on RT and x86 windows.

And it appears to me that MS managed to make RT and the Nvidia Tegra 3 run with exceptional battery life and acceptable performance.

Plus, RT supports flash, pretty decently, without destroying the battery life.

 

[paperwastage]

RT gets criticized a lot, but it is basically desktop windows on ARM. And apps written for RT can run on x86 windows IIRC, since they share a store. This is a pretty big deal.

not all apps... and basically, you need to FORCE people to write code compatible for RT/x86... otherwise, they'll just be lazy and write it for x86 like what they've been doing (and you'll have to hack /recompile it for RT)

And it appears to me that MS managed to make RT and the Nvidia Tegra 3 run with exceptional battery life and acceptable performance.

Plus, RT supports flash, pretty decently, without destroying the battery life.

have you seen the new bay trail tablets/laptops/convertibles? good battery life, full x86 compatiblity, good GPU for light gaming...

RT was a test by Microsoft to get a hold in mobile/tablet markets (back then, ARM had the right performance/battery life balance, not x86 Atoms)... now, with Bay Trail, Microsoft don't need RT anymore for the desktop space

 

[Crono]

Microsoft is going to merge APIs for Windows Phone and RT next year. They are leaning heavily toward making Windows Phone the dominant OS. Even the Windows 8 "metro" interface came from WP first. Eventually there won't be a distinction between the operating systems, but it will look more like Windows Phone/RT than traditional desktop.

So it's not MS extending RT to WP but the other way around. Or you can think of it as them merging or having a baby.

Microsoft planned the merging of mobile and desktop operating systems in stages probably a few years ago, or at least they wanted to go in that direction. Helps that everything uses the Windows NT kernel now.

 

[desura]

not all apps... and basically, you need to FORCE people to write code compatible for RT/x86... otherwise, they'll just be lazy and write it for x86 like what they've been doing (and you'll have to hack /recompile it for RT)



have you seen the new bay trail tablets/laptops/convertibles? good battery life, full x86 compatiblity, good GPU for light gaming...

RT was a test by Microsoft to get a hold in mobile/tablet markets (back then, ARM had the right performance/battery life balance, not x86 Atoms)... now, with Bay Trail, Microsoft don't need RT anymore for the desktop space

I am pretty excited for Bay Trail atom.

That said, will Bay Trail be showing up in the phone anytime soon?

 

[Crono]

I am pretty excited for Bay Trail atom.

That said, will Bay Trail be showing up in the phone anytime soon?

That's Merrifield, Bay Trail is tablet only. Silvermont is the broader architecture name for the current gen of Atom processors/SoCs. Merrifield is supposed to come out sometime in Q4 (in time for holiday season?) or early next year, but I don't know what phones are shipping with it. Moorefield is coming out in 2014.

There were barely any Clover Trail+ smartphones available, so I wouldn't get my hopes up for seeing too many Merrifield (Tangier) based ones. The Lenovo K900 did look pretty good (but not as good as its ARM-based flagship competitors), but I don't know anyone who has actually purchased one. Not many people even know it exists. I actually forgot about that phone, haven't read anything about it in months.