Microsoft is taking heat from browser competitors Firefox andChrome for blocking them out of planned Windows 8 devices that will be based on ARM processors. These low-power machines will run Windows RT, which Microsoftdescribes as a new member of its Windows operating system familythat won't allow installing third-party software. HARD TIME: 10 Tech CEOs sent to the slammer Firefox maker Mozilla says that means it won't be able to devise aversion of its browser to run on Windows RT machines, something itsays kills competition and is ultimately bad for customers. "In practice, this means that only Internet Explorer will be ableto perform many of the advanced computing functions vital to modernbrowsers in terms of speed, stability, and security to which users have grown accustomed," writes Harvey Anderson,Mozilla general counsel in a blog post . "Given that IE can run in Windows on ARM, there is no technicalreason to conclude other browsers can't do the same." He also hints that allowing Internet Explorer but effectivelyblocking other browsers may stir up already settled legal issuesabout browser bias. "If Windows on ARM is simply another version ofWindows on new hardware," he writes, "it also runs afoul of the ECbrowser choice and seems to represent the very behavior theDOJ-Microsoft settlement sought to prohibit." Mozilla project manager Asa Dotzler expands on the perceivedproblem in a separate blog post in which he acknowledges thatinitially this will affect mostly tablets. But he says that as ARMprocessors are more widely used, Windows RT will have a biggerfootprint. "ARM will be migrating to laptop PCs and all-in-one PCsvery quickly," Dotzler writes. "If you read Microsoft's blog postsabout Windows on ARM, you'll see that they expect ARM PCs to coverthe whole spectrum. ARM chips are already being used in servers.This is not a tablet-only concern." No word from Microsoft on this. Windows 8 Upgrades? Microsoft plans a discount program for customers who buy Windows 7computers this summer who later want to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro,according to a CNET blog post that attributes the details to unnamed sources. The intent apparently is to keep up sales of Windows 7 PCs duringthe run-up to the release of Windows 8, since customers might optto wait a few months to buy the newer version. It's not a free upgrade, so customers would buy a Windows 7 PC,then pay more to install Windows 8 on it. Depending on the pricingof the two platforms, that could be more or less expensive thanjust waiting for Windows 8 and paying for it all at once.Presumably Microsoft has this all thought through. HP Bets its Tablet Future on Windows 8 HP CEO Meg Whitman says the company will start making tablets again after discontinuing them last year - and they will be basedon the new Windows 8 operating system. No word on whether they willbe x86 machines or ARM machines. Whitman also pointed to new technology - memristors - that willeventually be worked into its PCs. A memristor is a resistor thatalso has memory in enough capacity that it could replacetraditional storage in tablets and smartphones . No word on when they might come into play. Lenovo Plans Windows 8 Convertible Lenovo will come out with a Windows 8 version if its tablet/laptopthat will take advantage of the operating systems support fortraditional applications as well as its new touch-centric Metro aspect, the company'spresident of products Peter Hortensius told a Wall Street Journal blogger . The device will be similar to the Lenovo Ideapad Yoga that lookslike a laptop, but if you want to use it as a tablet, the keyboardhinges back behind the screen. Timeframe for the device: 12 months. No DVD Player Windows 8 won't support playing DVD videos, at least not out of thebox. Support for optical players has to come from either a Windowsadd-on at some unspecified extra fee, be bundled as part of apackage by hardware manufacturers or bought from a third party andinstalled by the end user. There are also some free players outthere that users could install. Microsoft says licensing fees for the decoder is one reason for thedecision. Another is that fewer and fewer PC hardware platformscome with optical drives, so it just doesn't make sense to includeDVD video support on all of them that run Windows 8, Microsoftsays. ChkDsk Gets Better In Windows 8, the ChkDsk utility that looks for and fixes diskproblems has been made less disruptive, according to the Building Windows 8 blog. Currently ChkDsk deals with the disk as a whole and therefore themachine can't be used while it is running. In Windows 8, the checkscan be made in the background so users can keep working on themachines. If ChkDsk finds problems, it notes them and fixes themstraight away when the machine is taken offline, reducing thedowntime needed to fix disk problems. (Tim Greene covers Microsoft for Network World and writes theMostly Microsoft blog. Reach him atand follow himon Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/Tim_Greene) Read more about software in Network World's Software section. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Portable Data Collection Terminal Manufacturer , Symbol Pocket PC Scanner Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Portable Data Terminals today!
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