Windows 8 on ARM Now Stable, Devs to Receive It in February

Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 operating system is bringing along support for ARM chipsets, among other great new features.

The platform is increasingly stable on ARM configurations, and Microsoft is quite happy with the way things evolve. In fact, the company is so content, that it plans on pushing the platform to developers as soon as next month.

Sources familiar with the matter confirmed this state of facts, CNet reports. People who had the chance to play with Windows 8 on ARM claim it is impressive and stable.

Apparently, Microsoft is working hard with its hardware partners on the release of Windows 8 devices that sport ARM chips, and will be able to deliver them to devs next month.

ARM devices that run Windows 8 are expected to be much cheaper than those packing Intel processors. Rumor has it that the price difference might be of hundreds of dollars.

Moreover, Windows 8 on ARM is expected to deliver the same level of performance as it would do on Intel configurations.

Of course, it has been suggested that Intel tablets running Windows 8 will have the great advantage of supporting legacy applications, yet ARM devices will also have a lot to offer.

And there will also be Metro applications available for their owners - apparently, these apps are based on HTML5.

Previous reports suggested that, while the first Intel-based Windows 8 tablet PCs would arrive this year, ARM devices with support for the platform wouldn’t be here until 2013.

However, it appears that Microsoft plans on pushing Windows 8 on both ARM and Intel at the same time.

Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, and Nvidia will all want to have a piece of the market, and they will work closely with manufacturers to have tablets packing their chips and running Windows 8 available on shelves as soon as possible.

Next month, Microsoft should make available for the public the Beta version of Windows 8, and additional details on ARM and Intel devices to support it might be unveiled at that time.

Those who would like to get a taste of Windows 8 can download the Developer Preview released in September last year via this link.