

ARM hopes to take 50 percent of the mobile PC market by 2015 - nextparadigms
http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/30/arm-hopes-to-strengthen-grip-on-mobile-pcs-take-50-per-cent-of/

======
rbanffy
If we get a 50/50 split between x86 and ARM in the Windows 8 space, I expect a
lot of software being developed targeting not native ISAs, but the CLR.
Considering that, I wonder what would be Microsoft's strategy to prevent this
"software bonanza" from benefiting the Mono crowd. Being able to seamlessly
running Windows software on non-Windows OSs could be a major blow to
Microsoft's Windows division.

~~~
chollida1
> Considering that, I wonder what would be Microsoft's strategy to prevent
> this "software bonanza" from benefiting the Mono crowd.

If I were Microsoft, I'd consider this a good thing. this just means more
software that's capable of running on windows, which leads to more windows
license sales.

~~~
rbanffy
Unless people choose to run it on other platforms.

------
programminggeek
This is entirely feasible due to the fact that at say a dual core 2ghz
processor you get to the point of "good enough" processing power for most
consumers. ARM is already getting very close to that. With nVidia's quad core
chips coming and desktop chips coming, it's easy to see that ARM is going to
hit that dual core 2ghz point.

Here is the other thing, ARM chips are cheaper, made by more manufacturers,
and support multiple interesting OS's. Chrome OS, Android, iOS, Windows,
WebOS, Blackberry, and so on.

So cheaper chips that are "good enough" will likely spell the end of the
Wintel monopoly.

Then again, by 2015 Intel could jump back in the ARM race along with the
launch of Windows 8. You just never know.

~~~
bane
It's also completely possible to offload intensive processing applications to
secondary units, GPUs, encoder/decoders etc. On larger platforms (laptops,
desktops) there's even more space and power for these things.

Reminds me of computing back in the old days a la the Amiga! Tons of
specialized chips to overcome the limitations of relatively weak CPUs.

~~~
rbanffy
The 68000 in the Amiga (or Mac, or Atari ST line) was not weak compared to the
286s of the day. The limiting factor in early Amiga history was total memory
available and the fact chip RAM had to be shared between multiple chips. The
first Unix machine I used had a 68000 and 20 or so terminals.

~~~
bane
It wasn't an Apollo/Domain machine was it?

~~~
rbanffy
No. It could be a design licensed from HP, but I am not sure.

------
tobylane
Now just to wish for computers that come with something simple like linux,
then with easily accessible software to put iOS on it. And of course perfectly
compatible hardware.

Is it just me that would want a hackintosh tablet (iPad equal) to go with a
hackintosh computer (Mac Pro equal)?

~~~
tobylane
Corrections: Linux isn't simple and I do actually want Apple hardware.

