Marvell CEO talks about ARM Powered Windows

Posted by – December 24, 2010
Category: Opinions, Windows

xconomy.com is posting an extensive interview with Marvell CEO Sehat Sutardja after the Holidays, of which they have posted an excerpt talking about what he thinks on Windows for ARM, he says it’s inevitable.

They have said publicly that they were going to support it; the question is when. I remember I went to an ARM forum at Microsoft four or five years ago, where they invited basically everybody in the industry. It was not a secret.

100 percent of cell phone devices and more and more electronics will use ARM, as a byproduct of the investment people have put into cell phones and mobile devices. Once you’ve written software for the handset, the same software can run in a TV, in a digital picture frame, in washing machines, in toys.

If it’s true that they are going to introduce Windows on ARM, it’s going to be better for ARM, it’s going to be better for Microsoft themselves. It’s better for everybody. But if not, in a year or two they will be there anyway.

Here are more of my speculation for what I think the Microsoft Windows ARM announcement at CES could be about:

– Windows 7 version for ARM in 2011

– Windows 8 version for ARM in 2012

– Tweaking of Windows Phone 7 for Tablets

– Tweaking of Windows CE 7 for Laptops and Tablets

– XboX 720 could be ARM Powered, in the form of a pocketable tablet style product with gaming controls, with HDMI output thus doubling as portable and home console. The most modern ARM processors of 2011 will have graphics processing in the range of 200 million triangles per second, thus equaling the graphics capabilities of the XboX360 and PS3 in a battery powered pocketable product.

– Microsoft could be investing billions of dollars in tweaking their own ARM Processor designs in the style of Marvell or Qualcomm in cooperation with some specific ARM Processor designers and foundries. Their tweaks could be aimed specifically at powering future ARM Windows Laptops, Tablets, Desktops and Servers.

What do you think Microsoft will be announcing at CES that they have been doing with their ARM licence? Post in the comments.