A number of leading analysts have predicted that Microsoft will eventually end support for its Windows RT platform for tablets and devices using ARM processors, such as the consumer version of the surface tablet.
According to Computer World, Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi says the company’s current strategy is broken.
“Microsoft’s strategy to portray Windows RT as for both work and play is not working,” Milanesi says.
“They need to change their tactics to position RT as the OS for consumption devices, to make the hardware a companion to the full Windows experience, not a replacement for it.”
“They were hoping that [bundling] Office [with] Windows RT would be enough. But it wasn’t enough. Not that many people want to run Excel on a tablet.”
Milanesi’s concerns are shared by Bob O’Donnell from IDC.
“It’s not just the licensing costs that are a problem,” O’Donnell says.
“Windows RT breaks the core value proposition of Windows. People use Windows because it’s compatible [with legacy software].
“That leaves the fundamental problem around compatibility. RT implies compatibility because it’s using the ‘Windows’ name, but [the fact it doesn’t offer compatibility] has been lost in the noise.”
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
