Veteran Wall Street analyst Rick Sherlund of Nomura Research has issued a report following a series of investor meetings last week with Windows marketing chief Tami Reller, providing a glimpse into the status of Microsoft’s Windows 8 as the company gears up for its launch, expected later this year.
One of the more interesting tidbits is Sherlund’s speculation about the status of Windows 8 on the ARM architecture common in mobile devices, a new initiative for the Redmond company. ARM devices are considered key to Microsoft’s attempt to use Windows 8 to compete more effectively with the iPad.
The official word from Microsoft Windows chief Steven Sinofsky in February was that Windows 8 ARM devices “are still under development and our collective goal is for PC makers to ship them the same time as PCs designed for Windows 8 on x86/64.”
In his latest report, Sherlund says Microsoft’s use of the word “goal” is significant. In other words, it’s an aspiration, not a commitment. Here’s what the analyst writes …
Ms Reller was also quiet on our question whether Microsoft would possibly hold off shipping Windows 8 for Intel if the ARM version were lagging behind. However, there was a certain acknowledgement in the reply that suggested to us that this was a question that might have hit its target.
We think Sinofsky wants the press (I am thinking of Walt Mossberg for example) to review the ARM version of the Windows 8 tablet vs the iPad, since this will compare much better in battery life and size than the Intel version. If the reviews were better on ARM, it might be awkward to release the Intel version by itself as the presumed answer from Microsoft to Apple. It’s like not putting your best foot forward when the world will be watching.
We think the issue with ARM is not so much with finishing the software, but getting the ARM component suppliers coordinated and optimized with Windows 8, which is a very big issue in the ARM camp.
Microsoft declined to comment on Sherlund’s report, referring back to Sinofsky’s February blog post as its official statement on the matter.
Bloomberg News, citing unnamed people familiar with the situation, reported in March that Windows 8 would be released in October and that “there will be fewer than five ARM devices in the debut, compared with more than 40 Intel machines.”
Another tidbit from Sherlund’s report: Microsoft is standing by its decision to get rid of the Start button in Windows 8 desktop mode, but it appears to be planning some kind of navigational tutorial to alleviate the inevitable confusion.
