Windows 8 coming to smartphones says Microsoft's Steve Ballmer

On Tuesday, at the Microsoft stockholders' meeting, company CEO Steve Ballmer let slip Microsoft's intention to develop Windows 8 for smartphones. Ballmer was responding to a question about whether we have seen the Post-PC era and started his response by saying that we will always be in the Windows era. He added that Microsoft plans on "driving Windows down to the phone with Windows 8".

While Microsoft has stated its goal is to unify the desktop and mobile platforms, no Microsoft executive has stepped forward to discuss a version of Windows 8 for handsets-until now. And while the version of Windows 8 that will be used on a smartphone will probably be different in many ways than the one on a PC, most likely they will share the NT kernel that is at the heart of Microsoft's desktop OS. The Redmond based firm currently uses the CE kernel for its mobile software.

If smartphones do start running Windows 8, it will be easier to port software-like apps-between Microsoft devices. Earlier this year, Microsoft said it would develop a version of Windows 8 for tablets and that it would not adopt its mobile phone OS to such devices like others have done (iOS, Android). Speculation is that Samsung, HTC and others have been working on tablets that will run on Windows 8. Just the other day, Microsoft detailed a new notification system that will be on Windows 8 along with longer battery life on devices running the software.

source: BusinessInsider