Slashdot Mirror
Intel Fires Warning Shot At Qualcomm and Microsoft Over Windows 10 ARM Emulation (hothardware.com)
MojoKid quotes a report from HotHardware: Qualcomm and Microsoft are on the verge of ushering in a new class of always-connected mobile devices that run full-blown Windows 10. The two are enabling ARM-based Snapdragon 835 processors to run Windows 10 with full x86 emulation, meaning that devices will be capable of not only running Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps from the Windows Store, but legacy win32 apps as well. There is little question, Intel is likely none too pleased with it and PC OEM heavyweights Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard and ASUS have also signed-on to deliver Windows 10 notebooks and 2-in-1 convertibles powered by Qualcomm. Until now, Intel sat by quietly while all of this unfolded, but the company today took the opportunity to get a bit passive-aggressive while announcing the fast-approaching 40th anniversary of the world's first x86 microprocessor. The majority of the press release reads like a trip down memory lane. However, Intel shifts into serious mama bear mode, with significant legal posturing, touting its willingness to protect its "x86 innovations." Intel goes on to say that Transmeta tried and ultimately failed in the marketplace, and has been dead and buried for a decade. The company then pivots, almost daring Microsoft and Qualcomm to challenge it by making Windows on ARM devices commercially available. "Only time will tell if new attempts to emulate Intel's x86 ISA will meet a different fate. Intel welcomes lawful competition... However, we do not welcome unlawful infringement of our patents, and we fully expect other companies to continue to respect Intel's intellectual property rights."
Between the fact that current ISA is actually AMD64 (which is x86 compatible, but not intel-designed) and the fact that many key patents should have expired by now, it's going to be interesting if intel has the legal bass to actually stop this from happening.
Well, here are two demos of x86 Win32 emulation in Windows 10 on ARM:
1. A shorter, more marketing orientated demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_GlGglbu1U
2. A longer, more "show me stuff" orientated demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSXUDKpkbx4
...the writing on the wall?
The future is mobile, and in mobile RISC wins (for now). First you emulate, then you go native. Microsoft has seen the new Samsung S8 working as a desktop replacement with a dock, and is sweating cold. If that trend goes on (and why shouldn't it, as phones become more powerful), and mobile apps adapt to the "desktop mode", soon Windows will have a real competitor. I can see plane stewardesses distributing keyboards to the passengers, so as to use the entertainment screens with your "desktop mobile". I can see "laptops" that are just a screen, a keyboard, a humongous battery and a dock bay for your phone.
You cannot fight the tide. In three years smartphones will ship with 1 Tb storage, 16 Gb memory, and 16 cores CPU. All of them itching to do something more demanding than displaying your last photo of your cat. If Microsoft doesn't emulate in firmware, VMWare will emulate in software, and soon you won't care in which OS is your app working. You will have one and only one computer, that will incidentally have the capacity of making phone calls. Congratulations everybody, we are just now entering the era of the PC.
Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.
I have heard that Intel is delighted about AMD's new 32 core server CPU and 16 core desktop CPU. If I remember correctly, the last time Intel was this delighted with AMD they started bribing system manufacturers into not offering any AMD-based products.
Proposition: Apple are planning to release low end macOS products based on their ARM64 SoCs.
Imagine having a common ARM-based hardware spec for Watch, Mac Mini, iPhone, iPad, MacBook and iMac - only select 'Pro' models would require Intel Inside.
Such a transition would require checking an extra box in XCode for fat-binaries. Optionally they could develop a Rosetta-style translation layer for 'legacy' amd64 only binaries.
Yeah, because Intel hasn't been there with AMD before. Remember the Pentium 4 with it's ridiculously deep pipeline and equally ridiculous branch prediction failure rate? Intel got complacent and was more concerned with Ghz than actual performance. AMD pulled ahead.
Then the sleeping giant woke up and where has AMD been for the last 11 years? 2nd place, and usually a distant second.
I'm glad that AMD is putting out a few good products these days - it's been a while. And it keeps everyone honest. I want a strong AMD, because in the end we all win when Intel can't just sit on a silo of laurels; the same way I want a strong Apple *and* Android. Tough competition benefits the customers.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.