Microsoft Announces System on a Chip Architecture Support for Next Version of Windows

Microsoft has used the Consumer Electronics Show 2011 to confirm a pretty big rumor that cropped up a few weeks ago. With talk that Windows would be using a System on a Chip Architecture for its next version of Windows, there was plenty of speculation, and even more arguments breaking out whether or not Microsoft would go down this route. Turns out that they are.

Today, at CES 2011 in Las Vegas, Microsoft has announced that they will be focusing on System on a Chip (SoC) architecture support for future versions of Windows. Microsoft will work with NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments to support ARM-based systems. The x86 architecture will continue through support with low-power SoC designs, that will support Windows as a whole, as well as x86 applications.

At Microsoft’s announcement, the company showcased the next version of Windows based on a SoC architecture from Intel, based on the x86 architecture. They also showed off the same design from NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments. The company also promoted their second version of Surface, V2, which will drop the use of cameras altogether, and focus more on infrared sensors. The overall results is better accuracy, and a much thinner unit.

Details as to when the new version of Windows will be released are still hazy at the time of this writing, and the details regarding Microsoft’s new Windows User Interface (UI) they are developing are still unknown as well. The full press release is below for more information.

Press Release