Truly delightful.
I've known all along what this was, but dared not say it before it came to fruition, lest I scared them off it. Now they've taken their leap of faith and I can point and laugh - but first to the prior AC...
AC Friday 16th September 2011 00:07 GMT
Intel doesn't make operating systems. There's nothing anticompetitive about optimizing their processors for Google code, any more than there's been anything anticompetitive about optimizing for Microsoft code this last quarter century. Track layers must cooperate with train makers or the freight won't roll.
One might complain if their documentation weren't so appallingly complete, verbose and correct. But I doubt if they made it secret any could call it illegal: we don't have the magic interfaces for WinModems yet, do we?
And on to the subject to hand.
Windows 8 is more properly named after 7&7, the preferred anesthetic of the discotheque barfly to dull the pain of knowing she's going home with whoever's buying. Obviously whoever came up with this idea had had a few.
The OS is Windows 7 desktop (7), with(&) the Windows Phone 7 "Metro" interface (7) - and a couple minor tweaks just for garnish. At least on Intel Architectures it is. So you get the popular desktop OS, with the usability features that have made Windows Phone 7 a runaway hit (yes, that's sarcasm.) Because Microsoft knows that what we crave is their 0.6% market share phone OS on everything. We just don't know it yet because we haven't tried it. They'll alleviate that by making us try it on every desktop and laptop shipped in the world. They're sure this will only increase uptake of their desktop OS as well as secure their passage to the Mobile promised land. Oh my.
On ARM it's just Windows Phone 7, with a few minor tweaks. Microsoft get to claim that the Intel Architecture tablets can run both legacy applications from your desktop and Windows Phone - and they can. They know people will take this (and retail advertisers will milk the ambiguity even more than they) to mean that the much less expensive long battery life W8 ARM tablets also will, when they won't - because they have the SAME NAME. Which leads to confustion, disappointment and mistrust. A perfect way to preserve brand value!
And the Samsung tablet they gave away at BUILD? The best of both worlds (sarcasm again - one mustn't be too subtle on the Internet): A tablet with a full Windows Desktop just like the ones that have been selling by the dozens for years - but with the WP7 "Metro" interface. Because it was the lack of a Windows Phone interface that's kept full Windows tablets from taking off like the iPad did.
In summary, the company has gone schizophrenic, manic and suicidal all on the same day. Looking back it seems like they've been getting sketchier by the year, but when Ballmer only got half his bonus from the Board they just completely lost it. This isn't an Android killer or an iPad killer. It's a Windows killer.
It's going to be a great two years, starting now.