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  • Alexvrb - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link

    They had universal apps prior to Win10. Heck the first one was Spartan Assault and that was two years ago. Obviously 10 uses a newer runtime, but is it not possible to compile something that can run on 8.1-based targets as well as 10-based runtimes?
  • WorldWithoutMadness - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link

    I think depends on how thing goes with the 3rd party developers, they might have a plan for a comeback, either in different form factory or low powered device only or actually they merged RT with mobile.
    It is funny how windows mobile get win10 but not RT while win10 mobile got continuum :D
  • cknobman - Friday, September 18, 2015 - link

    I'm a windows developer.
    A. Universal apps have been around for several years
    B. You do not even need to recompile to run windows 8 apps on windows 10. They are the same runtime and based on the same kernel. My windows phone app runs on windows phone 8.1 and windows 10 with zero modifications. My co developer has a windows app that runs on windows 8 and 10 and it needed no recompile changes or even a separate deployment.

    That is what makes this windows store thing so cool. One build can work on multiple devices.
  • Alexvrb - Saturday, September 19, 2015 - link

    See, that's what I always thought was the case. But then I figured OK maybe it was a superset or something.

    Anyway, that being the case, why is it that seemingly EVERY article on this seems to spell doom and gloom like WinRT 8.1 will no longer be able to run new/updated apps that are released to the Store? Is the Store getting segmented? WinRT uses the same runtime as 8.1, correct? So what's the big deal if it doesn't get updated, if it still does everything it always did plus run newer apps that didn't exist before.
  • Alexvrb - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link

    Also, the only thing I think they should do for WinRT is backport Edge. I doubt they'll spent the resources, but that would be the only change I would say RT could really use.
  • inighthawki - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link

    IMO the version of IE on Windows RT was a much better tablet experience. Edge is pretty terrible regardless, too.
  • Samus - Thursday, September 17, 2015 - link

    That was where Windows RT made the most sense: you could use Internet Explorer and NOT worry about spyware, because no x86 program could launch, and the thing was so locked down you couldn't really run any programs not downloaded though the Windows Store.

    Unfortunately, RT was just terribly slow because let's face it, Tegra 3 and Tegra 4 are not very powerful "tablet" SoC's. Windows RT was very demanding of it and it always felt like an Atom experience, which was precisely what Microsoft was trying to avoid (because until Baytrail, Atom sucked)

    Windows RT will go down as one of those many mistakes that cost Steve Ballmer his job. What a visionless clown.
  • Flunk - Thursday, September 17, 2015 - link

    Windows RT would have existed even if they didn't put out any products using. They had to develop Windows for ARM to realize their dream of the Windows kernel on ARM phones and tablets. It was a stupid retail product, but a necessary step towards the One Windows vision.
  • BMNify - Friday, September 18, 2015 - link

    I will not call someone who made hundreds of Billions for Microsoft as Clown, Ballmer is worth $23 Billion and enjoying his retirement :)
  • Alexvrb - Saturday, September 19, 2015 - link

    If they backport Edge to WinRT, it would still retain that benefit. It's still locked down. Heck they could keep the same interface and just slip in the new rendering engine for all I care.
  • lmcd - Sunday, September 27, 2015 - link

    Tegra 3 is acceptable actually, so I imagine the Tegra 4 experience was excellent.
  • Alexvrb - Saturday, September 19, 2015 - link

    I don't see why they couldn't/wouldn't have a dual version of Edge like they do IE - WinRT has the desktop as well as the fullscreen versions of IE. Edge is substantially faster than IE too which on a limited SoC would help quite a bit. IE can't measure up to Edge even in its infancy.
  • ketacdx - Tuesday, September 22, 2015 - link

    I had a ridiculous issue with edge where pirate bay gave me a pop up notice and hitting ok or close repeated it. Even when closing and opening the browser, it continued from where it left off. I had to disable the internet connection, and close the tab that way. Chrome has never had those issues. Also, when can edge ever have a method to block pop ups? I had pop ups blocked so long, i didnt even realize how terrible they've become...:S
  • lmcd - Sunday, September 27, 2015 - link

    I don't like Edge's aggressive tombstoning personally.
  • domboy - Thursday, September 17, 2015 - link

    For those that use their RT devices like a touchscreen netbook (me), this may be nice. I spend more of my time on the desktop as it is. Now if we could just get an RT 8.1 jailbreak the combination would be a nice last hurrah for RT. I wish as a parting gift they would provide an official way to unlock the desktop for those that would like to do so.
  • mansonlam - Thursday, September 17, 2015 - link

    Should Start menu be released with Surface 2 at the first place, I think it would not doom like this.
  • h4rm0ny - Friday, September 18, 2015 - link

    Why the Hell would I want this? I LIKE my Windows RT tablet. I bought it, I paid for it because I like it. And the Start Screen works well with it. What right has MS to mess with it? Updates to fix things are desired and okay by me. They have my consent to do this. NOT to suddenly radically change the interface against my wishes.
  • haukionkannel - Saturday, September 19, 2015 - link

    You can still use start menu if you like. You then only get snap option to the apps.
    The start menu is for the desktop mode...
  • kj_anandtech - Sunday, September 20, 2015 - link

    I've been a WINRT [Lumia 2520] user for over a year now. I picked up the tablet for under $300 over year ago.

    For my use case, I am absolutely in favor of this platform/product. The LUMIA has been a terrific device and having office is such a great experience.

    I am confused with all the comments about performance, app availability, features, etc.
    Lumia has SnapDragon 800 if I'm not mistaken. It also has GPS, LTE modem, NFC, Camera, etc. It has everything for a great mobile device experience. The desktop like apps are also a great experience IMO [i.e. internet explorer, office].

    Performance on the SD 800 is great. Battery life is great. LTE modem is great. the 8 meg shooter is ok but probably better than most tablets 2 years old. There is no good turn by turn navigation app but bing, google and location aware/based apps work great!!! For my use cases, it's a great device. Compatibility with USB peripherals that I already own and I can share with my other devices is also great.

    I agree the surface and maybe surface 2 had/have issues, but my most utilized device apart from a phone is the lumia 2520 tablet.

    The other day I was able to pickup a wired XBOX 360 controller and play metro game with the controller on a television through HDMI. With VLC I am able to watch any media including MCE format (e.g. dvrms, wtv).

    Netfix, ESPN, Halo, excel ... etc.

    I have also owned ATOM based windows 8 devices and my experience is that all EMMC based storage solutions have very poor performance on windows 8.

    For under $300 there is no other competitor. A windows based ARM device [i.e. Windows on ARM] like the lumia 2520 is a great in-between device. Maybe the latest ATOM has improved performance but I personally would move up to a Core M device with a better drive performance [i.e. pci-e SSD or SATA SSD]

    I agree that a unified market place is necessary and I hope to see more common apps between x86 and ARM on windows.

    I still think Windows on ARM was a success. We now have better x86 mobile solutions. I just wonder why ALL mobile solutions don't have a minimum feature requirement. All mobile solutions should have: camera (rear and front), 3G/LTE Modem, NFC, GPS, WiFi, battery (5 hours continuous use and 2 days standby). It seems mobile implies ubiquitous connectivity, but WiFi only, no GPS and less than 5 hours is not mobile IMO.

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