Windows 8 Key differences

Microsoft will take the wraps off the consumer preview of Windows 8 on February 29 in Barcelona, a key milestone on the path toward launching the new operating system.

Based on Steven Sinofsky Windows 8 on ARM (WOA) will launch at the same time as Windows on Intel-AMD (X86)--though he didn't say when--and that ARM-based devices will run the desktop version of Office 15. But there are some key differences.

Here are the major ways that Windows 8 on ARM and Window 8 on Intel-AMD are different:

• ARM will not run Windows 7 stuff: While Windows 8 will run on older Windows 7 PCs because everything is more or less standardized on the X86 platform, this is not the case for ARM. "The approach taken by ARM Holdings, the licensor of ARM products is, by design, not standardized in this manner," wrote Sinofsky. If you need to run a lot of existing X86 software, then you will need to have an X86 device. Period.

• No virtualization or emulation: And along these lines, WOA will not support any type of virtualization or emulation and "will not enable existing x86/64 applications to be ported or run." Why? "Supporting various forms of emulation runs counter to the goal of delivering a product that takes a modern approach to system reliability and predictability...Virtualized or emulated software will consume system resources, including battery life and CPU, at unacceptable levels."

• ARM uniqueness: Device makers work with ARM partners to create a device that is "strictly paired with a specific set of software (and sometimes vice versa), and consumers purchase this complete package, which is then serviced and updated through a single pipeline." Again, this is different from standardized X86-based devices. "In these ways, this is all quite different than the Windows on x86/64 world," Sinofsky said.

• Labelling to "avoid confusion": When a consumer buys a Windows on ARM PC, it will be "clearly labelled and branded" so as to avoid potential confusion with Windows 8 on x86/64. The PC will come with the OS preinstalled, and all drivers and supporting software. WOA will not be available as a software-only distribution, "so you never have to worry about which DVD to install and if it will work on a particular PC."

• Windows on ARM devices don't turn off: You don't turn off a WOA PC, according to Sinofsky. WOA PCs will not have the traditional hibernate and sleep options. Instead, WOA PCs always operate in the Connected Standby power mode, similar to the way you use a mobile phone today.

• Office 15: While WOA includes desktop versions of the new Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, these are "Office 15" apps that "have been significantly architected for both touch and minimized power/resource consumption" while also being fully-featured and providing "complete document compatibility." WOA supports the Windows desktop experience including File Explorer, Internet Explorer 10 for the desktop "which have been significantly architected for both touch and minimized power/resource consumption."

Inside a Windows on ARM device.

For more info :

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/02/09/building-windows-for-the-arm-processor-architecture.aspx

(Credit: Microsoft)