The Windows RT saga is far from done. While hardware manufacturers have been pulling out from Windows on ARM, Microsoft is still putting all its weight behind the new platform.
The upcoming Windows RT 8.1 is set to offer almost all of the main features that Redmond has built into its main Windows 8.1 operating system, and Microsoft seems pretty bullish about the future prospects of its tablet oriented platform — and for good reason too.
ARM is working on 64-bit solutions, while upcoming hardware from both NVIDIA and Qualcomm is posed to push the performance level up a few notches above what is currently on offer.
Still, many believe that the days of Windows RT are numbered — but NVIDIA is one company that does not share this view.
In a chat with Computerworld, Rene Haas, vice president of computing products at NVIDIA has reiterated that his company’s support for the platform remains at a high level and has not changed:
“Surface RT is the very beginning of a long process and it’s the first shot in a changing landscape … Microsoft is moving the entire Windows platform to something really mobile.”
As a matter of fact, Haas seems encouraged by the price cuts for the Surface RT, while adding that NVIDIA employees regularly use the tablet with Windows RT 8.1 preview version installed.
Obviously, some people are going to maintain that this is exactly what NVIDIA are going to say. Then again, the fact that Windows RT is a long play is not something that can be disregarded. The fate of platforms is rarely decided in the first year.
