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They tried modernizing with Windows RT, which was actually very smooth and functional if it wasn't so locked down.
by Solocomplex 5y ago
They tried modernizing with Windows RT, which was actually very smooth and functional if it wasn't so locked down.
- cheschire 5y agoWasn't RT just windows 8 with an ARM build target and win32 stuff removed so they could sell cheaper tablets? So if you wanted an "unlocked" windows RT, couldn't you just have run windows 8?
- qball 5y ago>win32 stuff removed Win32 was not removed from Windows RT, but your access to it (if your name wasn't "Microsoft"; because that low-level access was reportedly how they got Office on it) was. And because of Secure Boot, which (unlike x86, for now) is mandated enabled for Windows on ARM systems, you had to wait for an unpatchable security hole in the booting process (which, while it exists, wasn't relevant until past the end of the Surface RT's lifecycle), you couldn't run full Windows 8 or a tablet-first Linux distro.
- my123 5y agoIt's not mandated on for the newer Windows on Arm64 systems, but is configurable there. Windows RT was just Windows 8 with a locked code signing policy, yup. And yes, Office on Windows RT was Win32, as were File Explorer, MMC, ... it's just recompiled Win8 after all.