Windows has had a tough time in the tablet arena. The iPad is far and away still the most popular tablet in the world, even though Windows 8, which was supposed to make the platform a serious contender, has had a year to gain traction.
It didn't help that the first full-featured Windows tablets, such as the Microsoft Surface RT, were powered by ARM-based chips that couldn't run older Windows apps. Other tablets based on Intel's mobile Atom processors were available, which could still run Windows 7 and XP apps, but few hardware manufacturers emphasized them — and they couldn't compete with ARM devices on battery life.
See also: The Problem With Windows 8
With the formal debut on Wednesday of Intel's new low-power Atom chips, codenamed "Bay Trail," that may change.
Bay Trail processors build the company's 22-nanometer Tri-Gate chip technology onto a new architecture called "Silvermont." Intel says the system-on-a-chip (SoC) consumes less energy with double the computing power and triple the graphics power than the previous generation. This should enable a typical tablet to run for 10 hours of active use and three weeks of standby. It also supports Android.
To ensure a better experience for users, Intel has been working with some specific app makers to optimize the performance of the chip. Apps from Skype, Netflix, Gameloft and others will all see improved graphics, response time and power efficiency in a Bay Trail tablet such as the coming Toshiba Encore. Intel says it will introduce 64-bit support for tablets next year, enabling many more enterprise apps to run on Windows tablets.
But will this be enough? The tablet market is still dominated by the iPad, according to a recent report from IDC, with more market share than the next four players combined (Samsung, Asus, Lenovo and Acer — all of which also make Android tablets). The contrast in usage is even more stark. The iPad accounts for 84.3% of all web traffic from tablets, a July study from Chitika study reveals, and Windows tablets barely register.
This is probably due to the poor reception of ARM-based devices running Windows RTMicrosoft lost nearly a billion dollars on the Surface RT). Consumers are fickle, and you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
With Bay Trail, coupled with the many improvements in Windows 8.1, Windows tablets have a more solid foundation to climb from.
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