Microsoft has announced plans to have the next version of Windows run on Arm processors, as opposed to its usual choice of x86-type processors, commonly supplied by Intel.

The x86-type systems limit battery life, so the use of Arm processors (which require much less power) will be useful for tablet designs and smartphones. "Windows 7 is not an OS that was designed for tablets," said IT expert Sarah Rotman Epps, who also predicted on IT News that by 2015, around 82 million people will own a tablet device of some kind.
 

"Increasingly, customers expect the full range of capability from any device - the power and breadth of software that is available for today's laptop, the long battery life and always-on capabilities of a mobile phone: great browsing, productivity and media experiences - in addition to the basics, printing and support for all of the devices and peripherals."

However industry professionals have questioned why Microsoft has revealed the plans some two years ahead of the expected launch, to which Ballmer replied: "We made the announcement now in order to allow all of our partners to work together, and build on this innovation."

"Windows has the flexibility - to define and deliver this next generation of devices to customers through innovation. Whatever device you use, now or in the future, Windows will be there," concluded Ballmer in The Register.

A success story Britain can be proud of

According to Richard Fletcher, writing in the Daily Telegraph on Friday 7th January 2011, the announcement by Microsoft that it is to base its next Windows operating system on the Arm chip should be seen as a major coup for British business.

THOSE who are so quick to write off UK industry should sit up and take note. With yesterday's Microsoft deal, Cambridge-based Arm Holdings has confirmed its position as a world-beating technology company.

Just two decades after it was spun off from Acorn Computing Group, Arm has scored a significant victory over larger US rival Intel with the announcement that the new Windows operating system for tablet computers and smartphones will work with Arm chips (as well as Intel).

The deal not only breaks the long-standing alliance between the two US technology giants, it also gives Arm the opportunity to move into yet another lucrative market. The most bullish analysts reckon Arm could increase its penetration of the computing market from single digits today to 45pc by 2015.

The Microsoft deal is just the latest in a series of major wins for Arm, which also announced this week that Nvidia, the graphics chipmaker, is to design microprocessors based on Arm architecture.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Arm's chips are in demand: the group's developers have managed to design chips that produce the processing power needed to drive our iPads and Blackberrys - without overly draining the battery.

But Arm hasn't just designed great chips. It has also built a pretty impressive business model. Even before they have produced the first prototype of the latest must-have gadget, the likes of Apple will have to hand over some hard cash to Arm: buying either an architecture or chip licence before they can start playing with the UK technology.

But it doesn't stop there. Once they have designed the chip there is a royalty payment on every chip produced. It may be just a fraction of a percentage point, but when your chips are in thousands of gadgets it all adds up. In fact, £7 of every £10 earned by Arm now results from a royalty payment.

Who says the only thing we are good at is financial services?