Tuesday, July 5, 2011

ARM Processors

ARM - RISC

ARM started out standing for Advanced RISC Machines but is now more a case of Intelletual Property rather than a manufacturer. There seems to be much debate (2012) who owns ARM.

RISC - Reduced Instruction Set Computer(ing) - a much  scaled down architecture that we have seen developed to date by Intel and AMD (plus others).
The Apple iPad, at least the first generation, used an ARM-Cortex A9 SOC processor.

There is also much debate (January 2012) about ARM devices and Windows 8 (secure_boot.html)

WOA - Windows on Arm

It is my contention that most of the discussion on this (February 2012) are from those that don't know what ARM is. It would seem that it is just a new buzz word and the next thing to come down the line. There is not even much talk of the fact that ARM based tablets could displace the dominance of Intel in the proessors market place. This is, of course if Intel do not get in on ARM manufacture.

The main reason for ARM is the low power requirements associated with a simpler processor architecture. The re-write of Windows 8 to work on such a platform gives rise to debate on whether Windows 8 will be "Windows" in the same way that previous versions were. The fact that a "Start" button and/or a full desktop interface will be there is probably a secondary issue and the fact that Microsoft are all ready behind the 8 ball when it comes to touch/tablet design and marketing is the main concern.


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