Microsoft on Monday announced that there will be three editions of its next-generation Windows 8 operating system: Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT. The Redmond-based company detailed each edition on its blog and promised “all editions of Windows 8 offer a no-compromise experience.” Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro will support PCs and tablets powered by x86 processors, while Windows RT will be reserved for ARM-powered devices. The basic edition of Windows 8 is aimed at the average consumer, whi...

Microsoft had intended to unveil its next-generation Xbox console during the annual E3 conference this year according to a BGR source, but it now looks as though that won’t happen — the company has gone on record in stating, “we can confirm that there will be no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon.” According to “MS Nerd,” an insider with a good track record of leaking unannounced information regarding Microsoft’s plans, the Redmond-based company is currently ...

Early rumors suggested that devices running Microsoft’s next-generation Windows 8 operating system might launch as soon as this summer, but a new report places the platform’s public release in the fourth quarter. Citing multiple unnamed sources, Bloomberg on Tuesday reported that Microsoft will complete work on Windows 8 this summer, and the first wave of PCs and tablets powered by the new OS will launch in October. Intel x86 and ARM-based devices will both become available at the same time, and M...

Consumers who purchase an ARM device running Windows 8 will not be able to load any other operating system, XDA-Developers reported on Thursday. Microsoft’s Windows 8 Hardware Certification Requirements state that “on an ARM system, it is forbidden to enable Custom Mode. Only Standard Mode may be enable. Disabling Secure [Boot] MUST NOT be possible on ARM systems.” The statement means that, unless a security exploit is found, no ARM device with Windows 8 will ever run anything other than Win...

In 2009, Tristan Schaap received the chance of a lifetime when he was offered an internship by Apple’s Platform Technologies Group. During his time interning with the company, Schaap was part of a team that was secretly attempting to port Mac OS X to the ARM architect, according to his Bachelor thesis published by Delft University of Technology. ARM-based chipsets are currently used in in Apple’s mobile devices while its computers use Intel processors. The thesis was originally embargoed due to t...

Microsoft’s next operating system, Windows 8, will be the first Windows desktop OS capable of running on both x86 and ARM-based processors. However, a report from DigiTimes on Monday suggests that major Taiwanese vendors such as ASUS may not have a role in developing the new machines at all. It was originally thought that ASUS may have had plans to release an ARM-powered Windows 8 machine in 2013. Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and NVIDIA, three ARM processor builders, are reportedly allowed to choose two...

Samsung on Wednesday announced the Exynos 5250, the company’s latest system-on-a-chip (SoC), which packs two ARM Cortex-A15 processors clocked at 2GHz. Samsung said the dual-core chip, which will be used primarily in high-end tablets, offers about twice the CPU performance of its existing products that are equipped with a pair of ARM’s 1.5GHz Cortex-A9 processors. The Exynos 5250 supports 2560 x 1600-pixel resolution displays and also offers more than four times the graphics performance of existin...

Laptops running Microsoft’s Windows operating system currently utilize x86 processors, but that’s all about to change in mid-2013 when Windows 8 notebooks powered by ARM processors may hit the market. It could happen sooner, of course; Qualcomm’s CEO Paul Jacobs recently said that Windows 8 devices powered by his company’s ARM-based Snapdragon processors would hit the market in 2012. The Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered devices may only be tablets at first, however, and DigiTimes said Tuesd...

The media had a positive response when Microsoft unveiled Windows 8 earlier this year, and consumers seemed to have a high level of interest in seeing Microsoft’s unique Metro UI on tablets. A preliminary study confirmed that the initial response to Windows 8 tablets on social networking sites was certainly positive; 63% of relevant Twitter posts analyzed after Microsoft’s announcement said that Windows 8 looked more compelling than Apple’s iOS platform. According to market research firm For...

Speaking at an investor meeting recently, Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs confirmed that his company is working with Microsoft in an effort to deploy Windows 8-powered computers that run on Qualcomm’s ARM-based Snapdragon processors. “We’re going to see some interesting stuff going on,” Jacobs said. “Windows 8 on ARM is a big opportunity.” It’s not an easy task: Microsoft’s previous operating systems, and the existing applications, are designed to run on x86 processors...

ARM president Tudor Brown announced on Thursday that he will not seek re-election during a May 3rd shareholder meeting. ARM does not currently have any plans in place to replace Brown. “[Brown] played an important role in the creation and successful development of ARM over the past 21 years and has made an immense contribution in a wide range of positions,” ARM chairman Doug Dunn said. According to The Wall Street Journal, ARM has shipped more than 15 billion chips “based on ARM-processor ...

ARM announced the Cortex-A7 MPCore processor on Wednesday, which it is touting as its most power efficient mobile processor yet. The Cortex-A7 is just one-fifth the size of the Cortex-A8 but provides 5x the energy efficiency and greater performance. The single-core chip was designed for use in budget-friendly smartphones that will be priced under $100. ARM explained that it can create a system on a chip (SoC) with better performance and longer battery life by taking advantage of “Big.LITTLE” proce...

Samsung announced is Exynos 4212 processor on Thursday, a new dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 chip. Samsung said the 4212 offers a 25% increase in processing power, 50% higher 3D performance and “double the logic density and a 30% lower power-level over the previous process generation” chip, which currently powers most of its Galaxy S II smartphones. The Eynos 4212 will be used in both tablets and smartphones; currently, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 8.9 run dual-core Tegra 2 chips from N...

Desktop apps that are designed to run on Windows 8 computers with x86/x64 processors will also be capable of running on ARM processors, ZDNet reported on Tuesday. Developers will need to recompile applications so that they run properly and Microsoft is hoping that a majority of developers create both desktop and ARM versions of their applications. In addition, ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley said the standard Windows 8 desktop Metro style user interface will look the exact same on both types of processors. Micros...