ARM, Microsoft collaborating on 64-bit Windows version

01.11.2012
ARM is working with Microsoft to tune the Windows OS to work on processors based on ARM's 64-bit architecture, an ARM official said this week.

Ian Forsyth, program manager at ARM, could not comment on a specific release date for the 64-bit version of Windows for ARM processors, but said ARM is continuously working with software partners to add 64-bit support.

"ARM works with all its OS and ecosystem partners to inform them on next generation technologies and enable their support," said Nandan Nayampally, head of ARM's processor marketing division, in an email statement. ARM's TechCon show is currently going on in Santa Clara, California.

Specific product support questions would need to be directed to the partners, Nayampally said. A Microsoft spokesman in an email declined to comment on specifics of the 64-bit version of Windows RT, saying it had no information to share at this time.

Microsoft last week released Windows RT, an OS that is 32-bit and works with ARM processors, and also released Windows 8, which works on x86 processors and is 64-bit. ARM this week announced its first 64-bit processor designs, Cortex-A57 and Cortex-A53, which are based on ARM's Armv8 architecture. The chip designer said that it expects servers and mobile devices based on the processors to reach the market in 2014.