MS to unify Windows into one version

Discussion in 'General Software' started by atwl77, Jul 24, 2014.

  1. atwl77

    atwl77 Just Started

  2. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    I actually thought having a separate tablet and phone OS is a dumb idea especially when iOS has proven to work very well on both platform.

    Windows RT was epic fail from the beginning. They should have done that from the beginning.

    Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk
     
  3. atwl77

    atwl77 Just Started

    Yeah the RT and full Windows 8 split was dumb, but I still don't like the idea of phone, tablet and PC all sharing the same OS architecture. Phone should just remain phone, tablets and PCs should continue to use a fully-featured OS.

    Unless they go the opposite way of Apple, and actually empower the phone platform, rather than dumb down the PC platform.
     
  4. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    I didn't see the full news until I posted. If they are trying to include the PC into the same platform, I guess it's impossible, isn't it?

    How is ARM going to work in x86? Unless all the phones and tablets are going to be powered by x86?
     
  5. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    One OS to rule them all? Or perhaps an ARM port of Windows for ARM-based devices?
     
  6. atwl77

    atwl77 Just Started

    So Windows 10 has finally been announced, and the one OS to rule them all concept seems solid enough, though I haven't found any info on how they plan to address hardware architecture differences.

    Only one thing I don't get is, if they're gonna unify everything, why say that phones won't get a desktop? Why not give the option, rather than completely lock it out? Some phones are pretty big, just pair with a Bluetooth keyboard and you could have a complete desktop running on an 8" phablet.
     
  7. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Well, as expected, they are boasting about the Start Menu and the ability to minimize and maximize Windows App.

    I have not heard about unifying the platforms though.
     
  8. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    They may use a unified "core" but I suspect the Windows Phone version is going to have quite a few features removed to cut it down in size and memory requirements. After all, many Windows smartphones still run with just 1 GB or 2 GB of RAM.
     
  9. atwl77

    atwl77 Just Started

    Isn't that implied by their "One product family, one platform, one store" concept?

    Edit: Though I really hate that "one store" concept. I hope it only applies to phones, and you can still get software the good ol' way -- download the executables and data files and just run it.
     
  10. ET3D

    ET3D Newbie

    There are Windows 8.1 tablets being sold with 1GB of RAM, so I see no reason why a phone won't be able to run full Windows 10 (assuming it's x86 based, ARM will likely always be more limited). I also imagine that Windows 10 will let you do exactly what atwl77 wants. "Continuum" is supposed to be an important features, and that's exactly about adapting to the I/O available.
    "One store" just means that the same Windows Store will run on all platforms. That's cool because if you buy an app for your phone you'll be able to use it on your desktop too (assuming that it's a unified app).

    I imagine that x86 Windows will continue to offer compatibility with 3rd party stores. I can't imagine Microsoft shooting itself in the foot by disabling that. I do wish that Microsoft also allowed side-loading apps on all Windows versions, but I don't think it will happen.
     
  11. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    I think MS will just encourage developers to offer ports for ARM-based devices and will display them like how Apple displays apps for iPads and iPhones.

    But even if the developers offer both ARM and x64 versions of the same software, I'm not sure if purchasing a licence would give you access to both.
     
  12. ET3D

    ET3D Newbie

    Far as I remember buying an app with Windows RT and Windows 8 versions already gives you both versions.
     

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