Re: Feature
Exchange is far better than the mess that is its equivalent on Linux.
Several years ago MS showed off Windows 7 running Office running on an ARM, printing to an Epson. They achieved this by writing the required hardware abstraction layer for ARM and simply recompiled Windows 7, Office and a set of drivers. It worked no trouble at all.
They could do that for any of their software and ship it. The barrier is testing, and whatever commercial loyalty they're contractually obliged to show to Intel. Delay too long and they might find themselves without a market. I think that the company has wasted the 7ish years since they did that demonstration. They had everything they needed to lead the establishment of an ARM based ecosystem for servers and desktops, even buying an ARM foundry license. Seven years later they have a nearly dead mobile platform and nothing else to show for it. Meanwhile their strongest customer base is or soon will be itching to transition servers to ARM so as to remain cost competitive with their rivals who use Linux (who can and will make the jump at the earliest opportunity).
Biting the hand that feeds IT
