Dec 23, 2024 | Updated: 11:35 AM EDT
Apr 24, 2017 11:10 AM EDT
By the fourth quarter of 2017, Microsoft and Qualcomm would launch Windows 10 laptops powered by Snapdragon 835 processors. It would be Microsoft’s second try at bringing Windows into ARM-based hardware. The first attempt, Windows RT, was a failure.
By partnering with Qualcomm, Windows seeks to change its luck by bringing Windows into ARM-based hardware. The upcoming Windows 10 laptops would be “truly mobile, power-efficient, always-connected” cellular computers as the company seeks to widen Windows 10 support beyond Intel and XMD’s x86 chips, Tech Times reported.
Critics are not optimistic that Microsoft would succeed in bringing Windows into ARM-based hardware. However, the company’s partnership with Qualcomm, maker of the Snapdragon 835 chipset, has higher chances of success than its Windows RT venture because of Microsoft’s creation of an emulator that would be integrated into the OS, allowing the upcoming gadgets to run software such as Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Word.
Slash Gear notes that theoretically, Windows 10 and Snapdragon 835 should make a great combination because the OS would be able to harness the latest Qualcomm chipset’s processing power and energy efficiency. It would achieve thin and portable form factors which AMD and Intel could only dream of.
Plus, Microsoft has the experience in dealing with mobile platforms, beginning with Windows CE, followed by Windows Mobile, Windows 10 Mobile, and the failed Windows RT. However, the tech website points out the problem is not the use of Snapdragon 835 or Windows in itself but the apps that would run on it. It was the lack of apps that would run on Windows RT that killed the OS since it only allowed apps from the Windows Store.
According to PC World, the cellular PC running on Snapdragon 835 would be connected to a cellular network using a high-speed modem similar to a smartphone. It would have a long battery life since the latest Qualcomm chipset was designed for smartphones.
