OLPC to Ditch Old Friend AMD for ARM-Based Processors

[newbie2]

Windows doesn't really work without an x86 processor, which means that in all likelihood, the OS will be some sort of Linux variant
http://i.gizmodo.com/5169157/olpc-to-ditch-old-friend-amd-for-arm+based-processors
:popcorn:

[zmjjmz]

All the countries that want Windows would have to use CE, which would be painful.

[cmat]

Microsoft will not be pleased.

[kevin11951]

What stops Microsoft from just compiling and releasing windows 7 for arm?

[zmjjmz]

What stops Microsoft from just compiling and releasing windows 7 for arm?

Nothing really. If ARM netbooks become popular, they'll either step up their CE offering or put 7 on ARM.

[eldragon]

What stops Microsoft from just compiling and releasing windows 7 for arm?

the simple fact that they rely on a thousand of third party companies to build their software/drivers for the ARM architecture... it would take them years to have a usable system

[cmat]

the simple fact that they rely on a thousand of third party companies to build their software/drivers for the ARM architecture... it would take them years to have a usable system

Right on. Sure you can port Windows to ARM. But you lose legacy support and tonnes of application will break.

[Polygon]

its not surprising olpc is going to arm, they are extremely resource efficient, which is basically the whole point of the project

[mips]

What stops Microsoft from just compiling and releasing windows 7 for arm?

Windows CE already runs on ARM.
Don't forsee any problems compiling Windows 7 for ARM. NT was designed to be platform agnostic.

[3rdalbum]

Don't forsee any problems compiling Windows 7 for ARM. NT was designed to be platform agnostic.

Windows NT was, you mean. I don't think Microsoft walked into Windows 7 thinking that they'd bother porting it to any other architecture (except maybe, possibly, Itanium)

Besides, it doesn't matter if Windows 7 can be "recompiled" for ARM. (it's not that simple, not by far anyway) You'd still need device drivers and applications to be recompiled. And who wants to bet that most Windows programs are written with the specific assumption that they will only be compiled for x86? Isn't that why 64-bit Windows has compatibility problems?

[bashveank]

Windows NT was, you mean. I don't think Microsoft walked into Windows 7 thinking that they'd bother porting it to any other architecture (except maybe, possibly, Itanium)

Windows 7 IS Windows NT version 6.1

[mips]

Windows 7 IS Windows NT version 6.1

Few people know or understand that everything released after WinNT is in fact just a newer version of NT. Forgive them :biggrin:

For those of you sprouting nonsense, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_NT

[Polygon]

still, even then. i highly doubt its that simple. Even IF Microsoft manages it, its not going to be ready by the time the first arm notebooks hit the market which gives linux a head start.

[mips]

Even IF Microsoft manages it, its not going to be ready by the time the first arm notebooks hit the market which gives linux a head start.

Windows CE runs just fine on the ARM platform. I would however not compare CE to XP.

[cmat]

Knowing Microsoft they'll release some half-baked version of Windows 7 for ARM so fast that you can hear the sonic boom miles away from Redmond. Then they'll patch it until it is remotely usable.

I know a long time Windows user that put Ubuntu Remix on his netbook and claims it's fantastic. Just a few power management issues. This is FOSS' time to move in and win over hardware vendors. Taking Microsoft head on is not wise.

[darrenn]

They made a mistake by not going with a arm processor from the start. I didn't think at the time that you would have significant cost savings by going with arm. But they could have sold the laptop for much less if they had done this.

[newbie2]

As well as this, the site reports that both MSI and Asus have confirmed that they’re “evaluating the possibility of launching Qualcomm CPU-based netbooks.” The site also says that netbooks using Nvidia’s ARM-based Tegra platform will also appear at a later date. Freecom launched its i.MX515 CPU in January, and specifically targeted it at the netbook market with a reference netbook design for OEMs based on Ubuntu Linux (http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2009/03/16/arm-netbooks-to-be-launched-at-computex/1).
:)

[Mr. Picklesworth]

Right on. Sure you can port Windows to ARM. But you lose legacy support and tonnes of application will break.

That would be interesting to watch, really. I hope Microsoft does it!
It would put Linux and ARM Windows on a reasonably level playing field, as both would be limited to their own applications within a market that caters to something else with a 90% share. Choosing ARM Windows in that case would not be about applications at all, but something else.
The other quite satisfying end of that experiment would be a sudden turn of the tides where a Linux platform has a bigger share of applications than its Windows counterpart.

Oooh, and watching people discover the woefully bad idea that DirectX was would be nice, too. Ah, the looks on their faces as they realize "wait a minute, if we had used OpenGL for all this graphics stuff it would already be working on this hardware!" would be priceless. Maybe Microsoft would start thinking more about lock-in and platform neutrality at that point. A locked door is locked both ways ;)