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An ARM-based Windows server would be desirable for anyone who is already using a Windows server and wants to maximize their performance per watt. I'm not sure
by adbge 16y ago
An ARM-based Windows server would be desirable for anyone who is already using a Windows server and wants to maximize their performance per watt.
I'm not sure if ARM is powerful enough to support a next generation console platform. The current Xbox 360 has 3 cores clocked at 3.2 GHz supporting two threads per core, while the most powerful ARM processor, ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore, has 4 cores that can each be clocked to "up to 1 GHz". Processors are a lot more complicated than just clock speed, of course, but I think it's readily apparent that ARM is less powerful than the current Xenon processor in the 360. Perhaps Microsoft could drop in several ARM processors or rely more heavily on the GPU.
I think it's more likely that this is a move to create a powerful in house ARM chip to use in their Zune HD and maybe for a to-be-announced mobile platform.
- rbanffy 16y ago> anyone who is already using a Windows server The only commonality is Windows itself. Windows NT on RISC processors has proved to be limiting in that almost no software was available to platforms other than Intel. This means the only functions a Windows on ARM server would be able to handle would be those of Windows itself and the software Microsoft choses to port. It's kind of a copycat reflex. Apple is investing a lot in ARM, porting a big chunk of their OS to it, so Microsoft is convinced it must do the same, regardless of having a viable product.