Microsoft may be planning to axe the Windows RT. At the moment, there are three versions of the Windows software that, according to Microsoft, have been giving it branding nightmares. The move was confirmed by the software maker based on the remarks made by one of its top executives during the UBS Global Technology Conference in California on November 21.
Executive Vice President of Devices and Studios at Microsoft, Julie Larson-Green hinted that the Windows version meant for ARM-based computers and tablets was far from being a success, with developers and computer manufacturers abandoning the platform.
"We have the Windows Phone OS. We have Windows RT and we have full Windows. We're not going to have three. We do think there's a world where there is a more mobile operating system that doesn't have the risks to battery life, or the risks to security. But, it also comes at the cost of flexibility. So we believe in that vision and that direction and we're continuing down that path," said Larson-Green during her keynote presentation at the event.
"I think we didn't differentiate the devices (Surface RT vs. Surface Pro) well enough. They looked similar. Using them is similar. It just didn't do everything that you expected Windows to do. So there's been a lot of talk about it should have been a rebranding. We should not have called it Windows. How should we have made it more differentiated? I think over time you'll see us continue to differentiate it more," she added.
While Microsoft did not officially announce that it will kill the RT version of Windows, it is clear that it wants to focus on the feature-rich version of the software now on its 8.1 version and on the Windows Phone OS. Larson-Green also hinted that the company might have a version that will bring the best of the RT and the smartphone platform version of Windows together.
Microsoft announced the Windows RT at the 2011 International CES and officially released the software in October 2012. It was launched alongside the Windows 8 with Microsoft thinking that computers using ARM chips will be a hit, which of course did not happen.
"Microsoft is being more pragmatic in its approach to strategies that don't work. If Microsoft can apply this pragmatism to the rest of the company and to its choice of CEO, we might just have a phoenix rather than a turkey," said Richard Windsor of consultancy firm Radio Free Mobile in an interview with The Guardian.
