ARM-powered Microsoft laptops are coming to threaten Chromebook dominance
According to personnel close to Microsoft Surface’s manufacturing suppliers, and amidst announcements made during the 2016 edition of WinHEC in Shenzhen, China, there is enough ground to suspect a new breed of ARM-powered laptops could reach consumers in 2017.
ARM processors are typically found in tablets, smartphones, and other portable devices running operating systems designed for mobile operations, but after the announcement of the joint-venture between Microsoft and Intel (one of the many), in regard to pushing for ARM processors to be able to handle 32-bit desktop applications, there is a big chance that Microsoft may already be working on a low-cost Windows 10 laptop with the potential to obliterate Google Chromebook, by catering to budget consumers and students who need an affordable laptop, good enough for school assignments and other clerical tasks, but can’t afford regular laptops, let alone advanced hybrid tablets like the Surface Pro 4.
Samsung, and other manufacturers have been focusing on budget consumers, and have done extremely well, since the introduction of Google Chromebook, a laptop initially introduced with a staggeringly low price tag, powered by an ARM chip, and running Google Chrome OS, a variation of Linux with an interface completely centered around Google cloud services, like Google Drive, Docs, Music, Hangouts, Google Plus, and YouTube.
The devices have made a killing in education, and with consumers who rely on Google services for most of their computing needs, such as email, social networking, videos, word processing and spreadsheets.
A Windows 10-powered ARM laptop would be the ultimate challenger to the Chromebook’s dominance, as it would provide the ability to access a full desktop operating system, no different than the one found in most higher-end computers.
The other big advantage would be in terms of battery life. ARM has already achieved extreme performance levels on battery life, but ig Microsoft manages to find a way to optimize Windows 10 OneCore for ARM use, it would mean a lot to consumers on a budget, even if it meant to create a whole separate version of Windows 10 for ARM, which would still be compatible with every other version, and which would still support Universal Apps.
Qualcomm Snapdragon’s quad-core ARM processor is reportedly the first to support a 64-bit version of Windows 10, as shown in a YouTube video released by Microsoft.
From the footage, it seems that applications like Photoshop, Movies & TV, Microsoft Word, and other desktop programs work rather smoothly, although video playback seemed at times a little choppy, which is to be expected when multitasking heavily on an ARM processor. This is also why Google Chrome OS’s best features include the ability to prioritize foreground and in-focus applications automatically, to provide the smoothest possible experience.
As mentioned earlier, Microsoft is allegedly planning to release this brand new line of budget devices in 2017, although it’s not clear at this point whether they will be introduced under the Surface name brand.
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