Don't Expect Windows For Smartbooks Says Microsoft

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Microsoft has confirmed that it won't be releasing a Windows For Smartbooks version despite the fact that the software company already have it ready for launch in the form of Windows Mobile or Windows CE, paving the way for an Android homerun.

Steve Guggenheimer, who heads Microsoft's OEM (original equipment manufacturer) division, told PC World in an interview at the Computex trade show in Taipei that Microsoft doesn't have any plans to port an x86 version of Windows over to the ARM core.

But it did not deny the fact that it could, if market conditions are conducive, launch a Windows Mobile version that is compatible with ARM processors. Given that the Toshiba's TG01 smartphone uses Windows Mobile 6.1 and Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset, the QSD8250), it shouldn't be a problem to get Windows on Smartbooks.

By voluntarily removing itself from the Smartbooks race though, Microsoft will allow other operating systems like Linux, Symbian and Android to roam free. Guggenheimer dismissed the chances of creating a new market for the machines adding that time will tell how successful Acer, Asus and other Smartbooks backers are.

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Our Comments

Don't believe Microsoft a second when it says that it is not interested in Smartbooks. The software giant doesn't want at any cost to allow other competitors to create a market that could eventually rival desktops, just like Netbooks spun Nettops. For the time being, this is more about politics than anything else with Microsoft having to make sure that its partner, Intel, is happy.

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Désiré Athow
Désiré Athow

Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled in website building and web hosting when DHTML and frames were en vogue and started writing about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium. Following an eight-year stint at ITProPortal.com where he discovered the joys of global tech-fests, Désiré now heads up TechRadar Pro. Previously he was a freelance technology journalist at Incisive Media, Breakthrough Publishing and Vnunet, and Business Magazine. He also launched and hosted the first Tech Radio Show on Radio Plus.