• Microsoft Announces Windows RT for ARM Processors

    // Gradly // blog, Microsoft, News, Software No Responses

    Windows RT for tablets

    Windows RT for tablets

    Microsoft revealed its full suite of editions that will be available for “Windows 8” when it is released to market, that includes Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, and Windows 8 Enterprise. and Windows RT that will run on ARM-based machines, primarily aimed at tablets. According to the verge:

    Windows RT will not be sold separately, but only available pre-installed on new machines with ARM processors. That’s a major change in the way Microsoft has traditionally sold Windows, and it underscores a more integrated approach to ARM-powered devices like tablets. Windows RT will also include the Office suite, but no other desktop apps can be installed on ARM machines. Windows RT will also lack the traditional Windows Media Player and most of the enterprise features found in Windows 8 Pro and Enterprise.

    Yet to see if Microsoft’s plan is to build Windows RT into something that’s more closely like Windows 8 or something else entirely.

    Below chart breaks down key features by each edition:

    Feature name Windows 8 Windows 8 Pro Windows RT
    Upgrades from Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium

    x

    x
    Upgrades from Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate x
    Start screen, Semantic Zoom, Live Tiles x x x
    Windows Store x x x
    Apps (Mail, Calendar, People, Messaging, Photos, SkyDrive, Reader, Music, Video) x x x
    Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote) x
    Internet Explorer 10 x x x
    Device encryption x
    Connected standby x x x
    Microsoft account x x x
    Desktop x x x
    Installation of x86/64 and desktop software x x
    Updated Windows Explorer x x x
    Windows Defender x x x
    SmartScreen x x x
    Windows Update x x x
    Enhanced Task Manager x x x
    Switch languages on the fly (Language Packs) x x x
    Better multiple monitor support x x x
    Storage Spaces x x
    Windows Media Player x x
    Exchange ActiveSync x x x
    File history x x x
    ISO / VHD mount x x x
    Mobile broadband features x x x
    Picture password x x x
    Play To x x x
    Remote Desktop (client) x x x
    Reset and refresh your PC x x x
    Snap x x x
    Touch and Thumb keyboard x x x
    Trusted boot x x x
    VPN client x x x
    BitLocker and BitLocker To Go x
    Boot from VHD x
    Client Hyper-V x
    Domain Join x
    Encrypting File System x
    Group Policy x
    Remote Desktop (host) x

  • iPad 2 Runs WebOS Twice as fast as HP TouchPad

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, iPad, News 1 Response

    Hewlett-Packard engineers hacked iPad 2 to install webOS only to find out Apple’s hardware runs their mobile operating system more than twice as fast compared to their own TouchPad hardware, according to The Next Web:

    The hardware reportedly stopped the team from innovating beyond certain points because it was slow and imposed constraints, which was highlighted when webOS was loaded on to Apple’s iPad device and found to run the platform significantly faster than the device for which it was originally developed.

    It should be pointed out that webOS  runs on single core Qualcomm ARM chips while iPad 2 runs on dual core Samsung silicon.

    With a focus on web technologies, webOS could be deployed in the iPad’s Mobile Safari browser as a web-app; this produced similar results, with it running many times faster in the browser than it did on the TouchPad.

    TNW also details how the news went down within HP.

    Almost everyone at HP found out about the death of the TouchPad and Pre hardware as the public did, in the press release. Only the top executives knew anything about this decision and even senior staff as high as Ari Jaaksi, the Vice President of webOS software, didn’t know about the shuttering of hardware before it happened.

    After the press release came out, there was a company wide meeting filled with a bunch of ‘corporate speak’, in which staff were told that they were going to be in limbo for 3-4 weeks.