More details of Windows 8 on ARM emerge as Toshiba, Samsung and Lenovo are rumored to be working with major ARM chipmakers to create ARM notebooks running Windows 8.

ARM Chipmakers Asked To Choose Two Partners Each

The major ARM chipmakers in the market right now are Texas Instruments (most popular in networking products), Qualcomm (popular in telecommunications including recent smartphones and GPS solutions) and NVIDIA (well known for graphics solutions and ARM-based SOC line called Tegra). According to report by industry news source DigiTimes, all three of them have been asked to choose to manufacturing partners each for the Windows on ARM project to create ARM based machines to run Windows 8.

These partners (one major and one minor) are for notebooks only though it seems and are probably bound by the Windows 8 Logo program. However, there have been no reports of similar restrictions for creating Windows 8 tablets; of which we are going to see a lot from CES 2012 (January) onwards.

According to the report, Qualcomm has chosen Samsung and Sony; Texas Instruments has gone with Toshiba and Samsung and NVIDIA plans to realize their ARM visions with Lenovo and Acer.

In the meantime, industry mainstay OEM’s Pegatron (company behind Asus), Quanta, Wistron and Compal have already put a lot of research in to motion for Windows 8 on ARM. They are hoping to win large contracts from the companies mentioned above.

Over all, even thought Windows on ARM (WoA) still does not have a working copy in circulation similar to what has happened to Windows on Intel with the Windows 8 Developer Preview, the excitement in the market around WoA is palpable. Every personal computing and consumer electronics company worth its R&D unit is looking at it as the game changer combination that will finally out do Apple at its own game. However, since both will have very different approaches and market, both iOS and Windows 8 will continue to live harmoniously for while.

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