

Microsoft confirms apps must be ported for ARM devices on Windows 8





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Well hopefully
By FITCamaro on 9/19/2011 8:34:24 AM , Rating: 2
They will make it so that through Visual Studio you can write the code once and it'll compile an executable for both.

RE: Well hopefully
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 9/19/2011 12:07:13 PM , Rating: 2
Most likely. Microsoft spends quite a bit of effort making sure Visual Studio continues to be a top notch product.

RE: Well hopefully
By gamerk2 on 9/19/2011 1:16:16 PM , Rating: 2
If that were the case, and all developers would be nice enough to re-compile code, then we still wouldn't be using X86 exe's on 64-bit OS's, and Itanium wouldn't have a lack of software support.

RE: Well hopefully
Itanium is a dead product.

Why Microsoft should support it...

RE: Well hopefully

RE: Well hopefully
By Trisped on 9/20/2011 12:56:42 PM , Rating: 1
There are reasons to keep producing 32bit applications.
If you don't need to address over 4GB of RAM a 32bit program will usually run faster then a 64bit.

The big push to upgrade Windows to 64bit is because the 32bit version can only support 3GB of RAM. That means every program running on your computer must fit into this limited space, including the OS.

RE: Well hopefully
By FITCamaro on 9/20/2011 9:29:54 PM , Rating: 1
I disagree. My development IDE(IntelliJ) doesn't address anywhere near 3GB of RAM. But the 64-bit executable runs far faster for compiling my application than the 32-bit version. Because it can move twice the amount of data in a single operation than 32-bit.

RE: Well hopefully
By estarkey7 on 9/21/2011 1:11:07 PM , Rating: 2
Another Java junkie. I use IntelliJ on the daily so I may jump to the 64 bit version when I go to Windows 7. Do projects still open on the 32 bit system that were created with 64 bit and vice versa?

RE: Well hopefully
By xrodney on 9/21/2011 2:43:03 AM , Rating: 2
Thats not exactly true.
32 bit application on 64 bit os doesn't run as native and have to use some kind of emulation which is decreasing overall performance.
Same goes for for 64bit instructions and computing.

RE: Well hopefully
By TomZ on 9/19/2011 3:24:56 PM , Rating: 2

That will work for new apps (using Metro), but any apps you have written in the past targeting Windows will have to be ported or re-written.

I'm sure a lot of Windows developers hoped or assumed that they could recompile their MFC/WinForms/WPF/etc. apps using a newer version of Visual Studio and have them run on ARM. Sounds like that is not going to be the case. That is a big disappointment.

If this is the situation, then Windows 8 on ARM has very little benefit compared to the typical iPad or Android tablet available today. Why bother, quite frankly? Windows 8 on ARM is just going to get caught up in the "race to the bottom" with all the other tablets.

RE: Well hopefully


RE: Well hopefully
By Flunk on 9/20/2011 10:32:00 AM , Rating: 2
WPF is really easy to port to WinRT. MFC and Winforms have been deprecated for years, if you're still using them I can't see why you'd expect that they would be supported on the new runtime. Microsoft's pared down the supported tools to keep the OS profile smaller. Paring down Windows to run on tablets requires a lot of cuts, and I think cutting legacy compatibility (apps that would run very poorly anyway) is the best course of action.

By jnemesh on 9/19/2011 6:27:17 PM , Rating: 1
So, you go buy a piece of software for your computer and it wont run on your tablet? Thats what I am getting out of this! If ARM and x86 platforms are incompatible...WHY EVEN MAKE an ARM version? I think they are setting themselves up for an EPIC FAIL with Windows 8! Between this and the fact that all "Metro" apps will be sold EXCLUSIVELY through M$'s own app store (and nowhere else), I am SERIOUSLY considering a move to Linux on the desktop!

By hemmy on 9/19/2011 6:58:06 PM , Rating: 2
All the developer has to do is recompile it, jfc calm down.

By MarioJP on 9/20/2011 3:33:14 AM , Rating: 2
The entire comment is plain flawed. First of, why would you want to run a desktop program on a tablet?? It is not the same!. Secondly, I support this move that x86 should stay with x86 architecture not mesh with Arm. If you had more understanding of these two architecture just maybe you see why this is a good move.

By PrezWeezy on 9/20/2011 8:40:16 PM , Rating: 2
Actually, all software that can run on your ARM tablet will be sold through the Marketplace. The same as content for the iOS iPad and the Android tablets. That way there is no confusion as to will it run. If it's ARM based you buy through the Marketplace, if it's a desktop you can go through traditional OEM/Retail.


We shall see. I think one of the major issues with Enterprise adoption of tablets has been management based. With Windows 8 all of your current management infrastructure can be used and they will be treated just like another desktop. I can see a lot of use for these things. Especially if they let people make add-on devices like scanners and other industry specific peripherals.

LOL yeah
By Visual on 9/19/2011 8:38:51 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah, I am sure that power and security concerns are the main reasons for that, ok... otherwise there's nothing at all stopping them from emulating a powerful x86 CPU on a puny ARM in real time.

