Windows 8, WinRT and WP8: Views and Queries.

Posted by WilsonCooper on August 13, 2012 11:59 pm 5

I have following doubts related to WinRT and Windows 8 and the following is my understanding & queries related to the same:

Windows RT is an optimized version of Windows 8 which is designed specifically for SoC architectures developed by companies like NVidia, QualComm and Texas Instruments. Where as Windows 8 is designed for X86 based Processors from Intel and AMD.

Optimization of Windows 8 removes all the legacy baggage from previous generation of Windows and provides a fresh new version of Windows, which has more power, less thickness and weight.

My questions here are:

1) When Android Boss says, future Android versions will support Intel Chips out of the box, does he intend to say, Android will support ARM based Intel Chips or x86 Based Intel Chips? If he means x86 version of Intel Chips, then why does Microsoft need to develop a separate version of Windows specifically for ARM based designs? I mean if Android is capable to have that compatibility, shouldn't Windows have the same?

2) What's this whole fuss about restrictions stuff in WinRT? Few examples are: There is a restriction in number of apps that can run in the background. The apps getting freezed when put in background etc.

When MS says, WinRT shares significant amount of Kernal code with Windows 8, then I fail to understand the restrictions present in WinRT environment? I mean I never see such restrictions on a normal Windows 8 based device. MS office is already restricted to the level where in we cannot run Macros and VBA applications in Office apps and so on in WinRT.

Will these kind of restrictions have any affect on the Hardware innovation? I mean we are not gonna see something like Kinect support out of the box for a WinRT device, just as an example?

3) Is Windows Phone 8 just an even more restricted version of WOA or WinRT architecture? Since there are more restrictions to Windows Phone 8 device than a WinRT device. A simple examples are like, WinRT works on quad core CPU like Tegra 3, where as WP8 only runs on dual core for now. WinRT can run on all SOC designs from NVidia, Texas Instruments and Qualcomm, but WP8 supports only S4 chips from QualComm?