A desktop version of Windows 10 running on ARM chips, may be in the works according to new documentation. If you remember, a few years ago, Microsoft introduced its Windows RT operating system designed to run on ARM-based devices with support for Windows Store apps.
However, the operating system was never really adopted by customers and forced the company to stop the development. In part was because Microsoft’s lack of communication as many customers believed that Windows RT included support for desktop applications, when it only supported modern apps from the Store.
Now it seems that the software giant may be working on a desktop version of Windows 10 with support for ARM processors. According to a documentation at the Windows hardware website, the company is clearly listing a version of Windows 10 desktop with ARM support.
In addition, we can also see Windows 10 Mobile x86 in the platform listing, which could indicate that in a near future, we could be seeing phones based on Intel processors.
The major problem with Windows RT was the lack of support for Win32 apps, but now there is evidence that the software giant may be working on an x86-to-ARM just-in-time (JIT) emulator to allow traditional desktop applications to run in ARM devices.
It’s not a secret that Microsoft has been toying with the idea for Windows 10 on ARM, some people believe that the company could be also building a version of Windows Server that run on ARM processors.
While the new operating system already support ARM-based devices, as we see on the new Lumia phones and from other companies, we have yet to see a full-blown desktop version of Windows 10 running on ARM.
Source Windows hardware via Petri
