4 ms·

This could be a good opportunity for Microsoft to dump a ton of legacy baggage in Windows 8. Windows developers will ultimately need to support ARM/x86 and the

by jsz0 16y ago

This could be a good opportunity for Microsoft to dump a ton of legacy baggage in Windows 8. Windows developers will ultimately need to support ARM/x86 and the path of least resistance is going to be Microsoft's latest & greatest framework. Great time to draw a line in the sand and reinvent Windows. Microsoft can send the message to developers that if you want your app to run on Windows 8 you need to stop using that Windows 3.1 style font selection dialog box, stop barfing files all over random spots of the file system, stop using crappy early 90's style installers, etc.

kes 16y ago
This might be a stupid question, but that's exactly like the OSX/OS9 switch, right?
- varaon 16y ago
  Yes, and MS already has something similar to Classic mode. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Virtual_PC#Windows_XP_Mode http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Virtual_PC#Windows_XP_M...
- wtallis 16y ago
  It would be more like the OS 9 -> OS X switch happening at the same time as the PPC -> Intel transition, but without the old CPU architecture being totally deprecated. Apple's notable for having made 3 major transitions (68k to PPC, MacOS to OS X, and PPC to Intel), but all three of those were as minimal as they could be given the circumstances. The architecture transitions were made with almost completely transparent binary compatibility and minimal changes needed for source code, while the source-incompatible OS/API change was made as gradual as possible with a long grace period (which a few companies chose to exploit rather than update their apps before it was too late). Windows as a system is clearly not clean enough at the moment to easily switch architectures without needing a lot of complex compatibility stuff thrown in. If they try to force developers off old APIs and introduce a new architecture, that new architecture will be a second class citizen and will need a lot of external factors to give it traction.
  - brudgers 16y ago
    >"Windows as a system is clearly not clean enough at the moment to easily switch architectures without needing a lot of complex compatibility stuff thrown in." Windows currently runs on two radically different architectures...x86/x64 and Itanium. It has for more than nine years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itanium#Architecture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itanium#Architecture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP_editions#Windows_XP_64-Bit_Edition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP_editions#Windows_XP_...
    - kurtsiegfried 16y ago
      This is true, although unfortunately Server 2008 R2 will be the last version of Windows to support Itanium: http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsserver/archive/2010/04/02/windows-server-2008-r2-to-phase-out-itanium.aspx http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsserver/archive/2010/04/02/... Although the article indicates that support will be rolling around for a while.
    - duskwuff 16y ago
      It's also run on Alpha in the past, but both the Itanium and Alpha ports are pretty thoroughly marginalized at this point.
      - rbanffy 16y ago
        And MIPS, PowerPC... And lets not forget i860 and the Intergraph Clipper.
    - steveb 16y ago
      It may run on Itanium, but it doesn't support more than a fraction of the x86 server functionality. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc772344(WS.10).aspx http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc772344(WS.10).a... I don't see how Microsoft will ever shed the x86 legacy in Windows. Intel would have an interest in killing off arm-based laptops with aggressive pricing, and there really isn't any history of Windows developers rebuilding apps to support other chip architectures.
ori_b 16y ago
They did that already. It's called .NET

by jsz0 16y ago

kes 16y ago

This might be a stupid question, but that's exactly like the OSX/OS9 switch, right?

varaon 16y ago
Yes, and MS already has something similar to Classic mode. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Virtual_PC#Windows_XP_Mode http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Virtual_PC#Windows_XP_M...
wtallis 16y ago
It would be more like the OS 9 -> OS X switch happening at the same time as the PPC -> Intel transition, but without the old CPU architecture being totally deprecated. Apple's notable for having made 3 major transitions (68k to PPC, MacOS to OS X, and PPC to Intel), but all three of those were as minimal as they could be given the circumstances. The architecture transitions were made with almost completely transparent binary compatibility and minimal changes needed for source code, while the source-incompatible OS/API change was made as gradual as possible with a long grace period (which a few companies chose to exploit rather than update their apps before it was too late). Windows as a system is clearly not clean enough at the moment to easily switch architectures without needing a lot of complex compatibility stuff thrown in. If they try to force developers off old APIs and introduce a new architecture, that new architecture will be a second class citizen and will need a lot of external factors to give it traction.
- brudgers 16y ago
  >"Windows as a system is clearly not clean enough at the moment to easily switch architectures without needing a lot of complex compatibility stuff thrown in." Windows currently runs on two radically different architectures...x86/x64 and Itanium. It has for more than nine years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itanium#Architecture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itanium#Architecture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP_editions#Windows_XP_64-Bit_Edition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP_editions#Windows_XP_...
  - kurtsiegfried 16y ago
    This is true, although unfortunately Server 2008 R2 will be the last version of Windows to support Itanium: http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsserver/archive/2010/04/02/windows-server-2008-r2-to-phase-out-itanium.aspx http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsserver/archive/2010/04/02/... Although the article indicates that support will be rolling around for a while.
  - duskwuff 16y ago
    It's also run on Alpha in the past, but both the Itanium and Alpha ports are pretty thoroughly marginalized at this point.
    - rbanffy 16y ago
      And MIPS, PowerPC... And lets not forget i860 and the Intergraph Clipper.
  - steveb 16y ago
    It may run on Itanium, but it doesn't support more than a fraction of the x86 server functionality. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc772344(WS.10).aspx http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc772344(WS.10).a... I don't see how Microsoft will ever shed the x86 legacy in Windows. Intel would have an interest in killing off arm-based laptops with aggressive pricing, and there really isn't any history of Windows developers rebuilding apps to support other chip architectures.

ori_b 16y ago

They did that already. It's called .NET