There was a ton of rumors about Microsoft’s keynote speech last night and unfortunately, not all of them were true. One that did come to fruition was that the next version of Windows (which we’re all referring to as Windows 8) will support ARM. Microsoft yesterday confirmed that the next iteration of the company's OS would support System on a Chip (SoC) architectures including ARM-based systems from NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments.
It’s big news, but it’s about Windows 8, so don’t expect too much in the way of juicy details. However, Microsoft sent out a press release with a Q&A with Steven Sofinsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live Division at Microsoft and we were afforded a smidge more information regarding Windows on ARM. Sofinsky says hardware accelerated media playback and hardware accelerated Web browsing are among the things users can expect from Windows on ARM. There will, of course, also be Office for ARM, just in case you were starting to get worried.
“We’re committed to making sure that Windows on SoC architectures is a rich Windows experience," Sofinksy said. "Microsoft Office is an important part of customers’ PC experience and ensuring it runs natively on ARM is a natural extension of our Windows commitment to SoC architectures."
"We are making this announcement now to allow greater collaboration across our expanded partner ecosystem so we can bring to market the widest possible set of PCs and devices, from tablets on up, with the next generation of Windows."
Microsoft talked a little about SoC and Windows for ARM last night at its keynote so if you missed the online stream, check out the video below (via VentureBeat) for the 411.
