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Kiss Your Browser Goodbye - Windows 8 to BAN Firefox and Chrome

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wraith808:
I think not allowing 3rd party Win32 apps (hence FF and other browsers) on ARM tablets is a very stupid move from Microsoft. If recompiled, native Win32 applications worked on an ARM tablet, that would be a big advantage. Without it, why choose a Win8 ARM tablet over Android or iPad? I see no reason at all.
-vlastimil (May 16, 2012, 02:38 PM)
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Win32 apps have never worked on ARM on any of the Microsoft mobile platforms.  I'm not sure why this non-issue is such an issue.  Mozilla made Firefox home on iOS which definitely required development- if they want a browser on the platform, then port their browser to the platform.  It would be different if they said that no 3rd party browsers are allowed, but that's not what this is saying.

Deozaan:
So how come Firefox works on Android? Aren't all Android devices ARM devices? :huh:

I am confuzzled.

Carol Haynes:
Presumably Android is open so you can install what you like. I presume Firefox is annoyed that any install will have to be approved by MS through their app store and I guess getting approval is going to be expensive (if MS's past track record on that sort of thing is anything to go by). Also one of the major strengths of Firefox is extensibility - I presume since MS is not going to allow any extensions in IE then any app in the store is likely to haveto adhere to the same principle.

vlastimil:
Win32 apps have never worked on ARM on any of the Microsoft mobile platforms.  I'm not sure why this non-issue is such an issue. ... -wraith808 (May 16, 2012, 03:51 PM)
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I am not saying it is an issue, I am just saying it is missed opportunity for Microsoft.

While Microsoft does not ban 3rd party web browsers on ARM devices, those browsers (unlike IE) would have to run in a WinRT sandbox. They'll be like 2nd class citizens compared to IE.

wraith808:
So how come Firefox works on Android? Aren't all Android devices ARM devices? :huh:

I am confuzzled.
-Deozaan (May 16, 2012, 04:46 PM)
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It's an OS level issue.  Consider that Google made the Android OS on the Linux kernel but for mobile devices (helped by the fact that pure Linux has been used in such applications) and that Windows doesn't fit on mobile devices (the mobile environment has always been on a different kernel) and you start to see the difference.  I doubt that Windows could be stripped down enough to make it mobile.

While Microsoft does not ban 3rd party web browsers on ARM devices, those browsers (unlike IE) would have to run in a WinRT sandbox. They'll be like 2nd class citizens compared to IE.
-vlastimil (May 16, 2012, 05:16 PM)
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Will it necessarily be a WinRT sandbox, or is this just bad information disseminated without knowledge of what it really means?  Microsoft is building WOA (windows on ARM), which will support the same WinRT APIs, in addition to having a commonality with Windows on Intel and AMD.  (1)  They haven't stated whether you can even build for WOA without using WinRT, but it seems so from that blog post- MS is just minimizing word of it in favor of WinRT, which only makes sense from their perspective as changing platforms is a big deal and they want total buy in (and seem to be muscling people to get it).  I don't agree with this approach, but I can understand it from a business perspective.

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