Rumors about the future of Windows RT has been around for a while, but today after Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, announced the fourth quarter fiscal report and talked about the future of Windows, we now have a more solid understanding of what will happen with Windows Phone and Windows RT.
According to the company next year all versions of Windows will streamline into one single converged operating system for all screen sizes, which also means that Redmond will ax Windows RT. Tough a tablet version of Windows will continue to exit, but under the Windows Phone umbrella, which may or may not get renamed to something else, such as “Windows Mobile”.
Windows RT was supposed to be the Apple’s version of iOS, but for Windows tablets. However it only added more confusion to customers, it was poorly design, apps weren’t there, and with the Desktop environment still part of the OS sent a mixed signal as users, who quickly found they couldn’t install any traditional apps, such as Photoshop, iTunes, Chrome, Firefox, and many others. Users were limited to only modern apps, those that you only get from the Windows Store. It really failed to take off.
With “Threshold Mobile”, there will be a single version of Windows that works on phones and tablets, in the same way iOS is the foundation for iPhone, iPad and iPod. This also means tablets will drop the Desktop environment, and it makes sense as this form factor devices are designed to content consumption and not exclusively for productivity.
This new variant of Windows mobile its said to work on phones and tablets running ARM and Intel processors. But of course this won’t happen until Redmond delivers a key piece of the puzzle, which is Gemini, the touch friendly version of Office, without this suite of apps Microsoft will be swimming once again in dangerous water, because only Office can deliver an unique experience that will differentiate Windows tablets with the competition.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].