Microsoft Works On Windows For ARM-Based Servers

SmartAboutThings writes According to some reports from the industry, Microsoft is working on a version of its software for servers that run on chips based on ARM Holdings's technology. Windows Server now runs on Intel hardware, but it seems that Redmond wants to diversify its strategy. An ARM-based version of Windows Server could help challenge Intel's dominance and make a place for ARM in the server market, not only in mobile chips. According to the article, though, Microsoft "hasn’t yet decided whether to make the software commercially available."

Comments

diversity isnt the problem

[nimbius]

Redmond wants to diversify its strategy.

Microsoft makes video games, consoles, operating systems, telephones, cloud services, office applications, car stereos, tablets, mice, keyboards, voip calling, a search engine, an internet browser, almost a dozen proprietary coding languages, educational books, a GPS map website, portable music players, internet chat, wireless display adapters, internet email and storage, a SQL server, and a gob of money on its training and certification services. The problem is mircosoft is creating products people do not need.

each of the aforementioned offerings has had an industry or at least socially accepted standard in place for more than 2 years, and in some cases more than a decade. Microsofts problem is that they cant come up with new ideas and fail to see the logic behind existing ideas. Arm started out as a Unix platform, and has been extensively developed as a Linux platform. the Linux kernels ARM support has existed for 4 years, which seems to be the average amount of time it takes redmond to realize something new has happened. Even if Redmond offered an arm-server version of windows, it would have to compete with well documented, functional, and most importantly free versions of Linux that likely exist on ARM because they were proven assets in X86 for their particular task, not because Windows didnt exist at the time. the standard track-run of a microsoft offering will likely be provided with their ARM offering:

1. Arm is offered, priced to buy, and servers preloaded with the microsoft tax
2. Arm is subsidized in standard licensing contracts to major businesses beholden to redmond in their desktop environment. rejecting the subsidies will cause a loss of already existing discounts, just like Azure.
3. this dole will be touted as market acceptance of Windows for ARM. metrics will be conveyed in trade journals and PHB will respond with demo units for the tech teams.
4. Tech teams will ignore the device as its not needed and performance is significantly worse than the existing *nix, not to mention exising code ported from x86 unix/linux systems wont run on it.
5. Microsoft will bail cash from XBox revenue into their ARM venture for 5-8 years, or roughly 1 zune.
6. Microsoft will quietly EOL the product and never speak of it again.
7. Microsoft will spin the wayback machine 4 years into the past and try their hand at Microsoft twitter or some equally doomed project.

Good luck with that

[pak9rabid]

MS couldn't produce a mobile device that anybody wanted (where ARM makes much more sense). What makes them think they're going to have any success on the server front?