February 12, 2012, 7:37 AM — IT managers weighing the pros and cons of picking either an upcoming Windows on ARM (WOA) tablet or an x86-based Windows 8 tablet still face a number of unknowns.
Many analysts assume that WOA tablets will cost less, be lighter and have a longer battery life than an x86- or x64-based tablet from Intel or AMD. But Microsoft has also made it clear that legacy Windows-based apps, widely used in enterprises, won't work without being updated to run on a WOA tablet. (WOA models are expected to be out late this year.)
Given that issue, does buying a WOA tablet make sense? Ultimately, it depends on how users -- or the IT staffers deciding on tablets for workers -- plan to use a Microsoft tablet: Will it be more like a traditional computer that generates information or as a consumption device -- a kind of "glass window to look into apps?" as analyst Jack Gold at J. Gold Associates put it.
To sort through some of those issues, here are a few points to keep in mind:
Won't a WOA tablet's up-front cost be cheaper than an X86 or X64 tablet running Windows 8? Analysts see the prevalence of ARM-based chips in tablets already on the market as a sign that they will be cheaper for Microsoft to use in WOA tablets. ARM is widely used now in smartphones, as well as in Android tablets and even the highly popular iPad from Apple.
Just how much hardware savings will be is not at all clear. Gold and Al Hilwa don't envision WOA tablets selling in the $200 range like the Kindle Fire from Amazon, but they figure ARM-based tablets would start at prices below the entry-level $499 cost of the iPad.
Part of the reason for that is because Windows is considered a heavy-duty OS, meaning the processor and memory would have to be powerful -- read more expensive -- than what's seen in many low-cost tablets, Gold said.
But won't WOA tablets have free Office 15 apps like Excel and PowerPoint? If that turns out to be true, then WOA tablets would almost certainly be cheaper than X86 tablets, analysts said. Nobody was ready to venture a guess as to how much cheaper. But given the cost of Office, WOA tablets could be $100 to $200 cheaper per device.
Hilwa believes Microsoft actually means to offer Office 15 apps for free in a WOA computer or tablet; Gold disagreed, saying he would be surprised if Office 15 really comes for free.
