Isn't this effectively the end of standalone Windows RT?

[Johnny Tremaine]

Microsoft Presses Ahead With Office For Android | TechCrunch

Once a touch optimized version of Office is running on Android tablets ( and not for W8 tablets YET), not sure what the pitch is for buying an RT only tablet.

Microsoft is effectively taking RT out back and doing a Tony Soprano on it.

 

[xandros9]

The pitch for an RT only tablet is a tablet with a decent file manager, decent multitasking, complete Office and the Windows ecosystem. Among others

Not like they put a version of Office on Android the worlds gonna end.

That won't kill RT, the x86 Atom tablets will.

 

[Johnny Tremaine]

The pitch for an RT only tablet is a tablet with a decent file manager, decent multitasking, complete Office and the Windows ecosystem. Among others

Not like they put a version of Office on Android the worlds gonna end.

That won't kill RT, the x86 Atom tablets will.

I agree about the x86 tablets bringing RT to an end, but, like RT most high end Android tablets also have file managers and good multitasking, and now, complete *touch optimized* Office, something that RT *doesn't* have and Microsoft can't say when it'll be there (maybe Windows 9).

 

[xandros9]

I agree about the x86 tablets bringing RT to an end, but, like RT most high end Android tablets also have file managers and good multitasking, and now, complete *touch optimized* Office, something that RT *doesn't* have and Microsoft can't say when it'll be there (maybe Windows 9).

But its highly likely RT will see a buttload more features. Looking at Office for iPad at least. or perhaps the Android version would require a 365 subscription like the iPad, unlike RT, I think that could be the kicker.

There's no official Google Android file manager isn't there? But hey, I feel Windows Explorer can still beat the pants of ES Explorer or some other thing like that. Seeing the USB on the Surfaces doesn't hurt. (Windows, even RT can play with a lot more peripherals, but hurts in regards to the mobile site of things imo)

Android multitasks, but I feel Samsungs, split screen is still very much hit and miss. Hopefully Google does something standard about it.

 

[salmanahmad]

RT and Windows Phone are merging, I believe.
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[badMojo69]

Yea RT as it exists is on the way out, but I don't see any value to having full windows on a 8 inch device. Desktop apps were not meant to viewed on such a small screen.

 

[rodan01]

WP and RT both use the Modern UI and live tiles, but there are so many differences between them, I don't know how they're going to merge them.

I guess the touch side of Windows x86 will be consistent with this merged mobile OS. It would be crazy if the Surface Pro and the ARM tablets would have a different touch UI.

Foley says that a preview of Windows 9 could be released by the end of the year, so in less than 5 months we could see the new touch UI.

Can Microsoft deliver something great in such a short period of time? That would be new. The general perception is that the development of WP has been a bit slow

 

[badMojo69]

Well all they have to do is create a x86 emulator for RT and problem solved. It might run slower but it would be no different than any other emulator out there. If they should just make the desktop part of W8 on RT a Virtual Machine. Heck the Windows OS started as a VM on OS2.

 

[Mike Gibson]

Well all they have to do is create a x86 emulator for RT and problem solved. It might run slower but it would be no different than any other emulator out there. If they should just make the desktop part of W8 on RT a Virtual Machine.

Might run slow? ARM CPUs are terrible performers compared to even the lowest Intel Core CPU.

Heck the Windows OS started as a VM on OS2.

Uh, I don't think so!

 

[badMojo69]

Okay then it was running in an emulator on OS2, but that's where it started before Microsoft broke off on their own.

Oh and to your ARM CPUs are terrible performers it just depends on what you need to do.
http://www.extremetech.com/computin...al-x86-windows-apps-on-your-windows-rt-tablet

It can be done.

 

[Mike Gibson]

Okay then it was running in an emulator on OS2, but that's where it started before Microsoft broke off on their own.

No, I worked on both OS/2 and Windows back then. OS/2 was a completely separate product from Windows. When Windows 3.0 took off in the market around 1990, MSFT dropped OS/2 development (turned it over to IBM) and focused on Windows.

IBM later added the ability to run Windows programs in OS/2. Maybe that's where your confusion comes from.

 

[badMojo69]

No, I worked on both OS/2 and Windows back then. OS/2 was a completely separate product from Windows. When Windows 3.0 took off in the market around 1990, MSFT dropped OS/2 development (turned it over to IBM) and focused on Windows.

IBM later added the ability to run Windows programs in OS/2. Maybe that's where your confusion comes from.

But it ran in an emulator on OS2 an emulator that was very prone to crashing if memory serves. I worked on OS2 as well and remember the day when the agreement between Microsoft and IBM expired. My point was just that there is no technical reason why there could not be (and there is) an emulator for RT to allow x86 apps to run.