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Microsoft was running Windows on ARM two years ago

Microsoft was running Windows on ARM two years ago

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Microsoft's attempts to port Windows to ARM began earlier than we thought: over two years ago, the company apparently had Windows 7 running on an ARM-based phone.

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Windows 7 ARM phone
Windows 7 ARM phone

Microsoft's attempts to port Windows to ARM began earlier than we thought: over two years ago, the company apparently already had Windows running on the low-power architecture. According to EXIF data, the two photos above were taken on January 22nd, 2010 with a Samsung Omnia Pro, but that's not Windows Mobile on this Asus P835 smartphone. It's a build of Windows 7, and to give you some idea of the timing, it predates the January 27th announcement of the original Apple iPad by several days. Of course, if what we've been hearing about Windows Phone 8 pans out, these pictures of a "fairly early" Windows on ARM debug could represent more than just software running on silicon: it could be symbolic of how Microsoft intends to truly unify phones, tablets, and PCs with its next version of the desktop operating system.