Rumor: Windows RT, Windows Phone to Eventually Merge
Microsoft may merge Windows RT and Windows Phone.
Winbeta reports that a source named WZOR, which has provided a number of Microsoft information leaks in the past, claims that the company is planning to merge Windows Phone OS and Windows RT. The source doesn't provide additional details, but rather states that this has been mentioned several times in the past. True or not, Microsoft is seemingly already paving the way by providing support for 7 inch form factors in Windows RT 8.1 launching this October.
In addition to the possible merger, the source also leaked a bit of info regarding Windows 9 and Windows 10. The good news is that Windows 9 will reportedly be similar to the current platform much like Windows Vista stepped up to Windows 7. The OS will also supposedly reintroduce the old Aero interface, but it won't be quite the same. Windows 9 will even reportedly launch in a year's time.
The bad news is that Windows 10 will supposedly be completely different. That doesn't make any sense given all the chaos surrounding the current Windows 8 release. Yet the source insists that this version will be entirely in the cloud, and will even be served up as an internal desktop concept on September 1. Naturally, this won't be revealed to the public unless an insider spills the screenshot beans.
As it stands now, we know that Microsoft is shooting for yearly incremental updates, but it's unknown how long the Windows 8.x train will continue to ride. The "Windows 9" and "Windows 10" labels are likely only codenames to signify a specific point in the platform's evolution rather than a specific full-blown release. These reference points could be Windows 8.2 and Windows 8.3 for all we know.
Whether Microsoft is pushing for a true cloud OS remains to be seen. Does this mean Microsoft wants an OS similar to Google's own Chrome OS that relies on HTML5-based apps and cloud storage? Or does the company seek to stream its platform on any ARM-based and x86-64 hardware set? OnLive can stream a Windows-based desktop to any Android tablet or Apple's iPad as long as there's an Internet connection to support the stream.
That said, there's a good chance Microsoft is looking to provide a Chrome OS-like experience. The Office 365 and the subscription-based Office 2013 are good examples: they're heavily based on the Internet and receive automatic updates on a constant basis without user intervention. The upcoming Xbox One is another good example, as it can use the cloud to offer features and performance not possible with a single hardware unit. If anything, our current network and Internet connections seem to be bottlenecking a huge potential of innovation and change.
Of course, everything provided here can be taken with a grain of salt. Yet there are a lot of solid possibilities going on in this set of rumors that shouldn't be cast aside as utter gibberish.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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jhansonxi The WinRT and WinP merger makes sense, if only to reduce engineering redundancy. However, the Win9 and Win10 rumors, if true, indicates that there are more Ballmer cronies in management that need to be terminated.Reply -
Aoyagi WP needs to either die or be completely redone to be less of an iOS ...inspired operating system to put it lightly. Less "app"-centrism, more capabilities of the OS itself.Reply -
FrankInKY Microsoft is determined that I will never buy another of their OSs again. I feel kind of hurt, wasn't the thousands of bucks I spent on their software enough?...or was it too much...yeah that must be it, they decided I had spent too much of my money on MS DOS, Word, OSs 3.1, 95, 98, 2K, Xp (and even one regrettable purchase of VISTA) and multiple versions of Visual Studio. So they started making OSs they know I'll never buy, to save me money!Reply
Yeah, that must be it... -
qlum I am still waiting for my games to be ported to linux so I can finally abandon the windows failboat but that seems to take quite some time still.Reply -
daekar You know, I'm pretty flexible when it comes to OSes and software. I use at least 4 different operating systems a week, and three different office suites. But this "cloud based" OS bullcrap is really just too much in a world that is experiencing both a transition to ultra-mobile forms and ridiculous charges for bandwidth usage. And what happens when I need to use my computer and Verizon's crap service goes out? I'm sorry... maybe that's OK for people whose primary computer use is updating which movie you watched with your buff, but it's not OK for anybody who needs full functionality.Reply -
voltagetoe Does this mean that traditional windows x64/x86 applications won't run on windows RT (Photoshop etc.) ?Reply -
back_by_demand Aoyagi, maybe WP8 winning all kinds of industry awards for innovation means they should lower themselves to Apples level? You clearly have never used WP.Reply