Why Not Regular Windows?

[Fa310tx]

If this is just a stupid question, please forgive...
I'm sitting here thinking, and now that a lot of phones are 640x480 and even 800x480 and 500+mh cpus, why can't we just install windows on our phones?
Is the cpu just not x86 or something? If that's the case, why aren't companies using x86 processors? I could be way off, but isn't that part of the point of things like atom?
Maybe what I'm talking about is just around the corner, but it seems wierd to me to have a totally different operating system for a phone. Drivers are different, programs are different, but they all try to do the same thing. Why not just use standards that are already in place?
JJ

[psiphi]

I am pretty sure something like this will happen at some point... Biggest problem is screen size (not resolution) and cost.... Software already exists to run DoS and Windows 9x on WM (Though its slow...)

My personal guess is as soon as somone comes up with a decent Wireless connection to a monitor, our phone will truely start replacing notebooks (at least the small ones.)

For the sake of arguement, lets say most people start using Wireless Firewire (made up tech) for ALL mice, keyboards, and monitors. As soon as you put your phone in range of the wireless dock, it becomes the CPU for everything... The only thing extra you might have at home would be additional personal storage, but everywhere else, all that will be needed is a KVM dock... Ad it should be easy to make a Notebook like KVM dock too for those needing it... Remember you heard it here 1st...

[regression]

I thought Windows Mobile devices used the ARM based CPU where desktops and laptops used Intel based CPU's (this includes CPU's made by AMD). And, ARM and Intel CPU's have different instruction sets. Maybe I'm wrong, but that is what I deduced from reading here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_PC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM_architecture

[crazychef]

itll all be coming sooner than later i think... at the same time, alot of people here have the oposite complaint.. alot wonder when MS is gonna start acting like we have phones with working web, not web with a working phone... so, its kind of a toss up.. do u want a better PC like experience, or do u want usablity and customization abilities... odds are they wont do both, just look at iPhone...

but with snapdragon coming, and Dual Processors for cells right around the corner, i expect significant changes over the next yr or 2..

so to the OP i think theyll get there...eventually

[Darkjedi]

from what I understand, x86 processors would be highly inefficient for mobile devices. ARM processors are very energy efficient, but is based off a completely different architecture with different instruction sets.

Perhaps in the near-future we'll have a universal processor architecture that can be applied to all devices, small or big. x86 based Centrino/Pentium M processors have come a long way and are far more power efficient than their larger cousins, but still not quite suitable for mobile device usage. Until then we'll have to deal with the limited mobile OS's that are shoved in our faces, hahah.

[DavidinCT]

I was wondering this myself, I wile ago on a PocketPC, using PocketDOS, I was able to get Windows 3.0 running, slow as anything and pretty much worthless today but, just to see if it could be done.

It would be nice to see if we could actually get XP to run on a phone....That would be cool...but, I think the perfomance and amount of memory would make it almost un-usable.

Some day... If you really need a small computer... just get a OQO....

[Darkjedi]

One day we'll just have phones or a "universal personal device" and when we get home, it'll just dock with an external monitor, keyboard and mouse wirelessly and be used as a normal PC, recharging through your inductive charging desk of course. It'll be able to pick up digital TV, radio signals and have constant access to wireless internet.

Ah.. we can all dream, hahah.

[psiphi]

If we get a fast enough of a processor, I imagine the 486 will be able to be emulated, and we could load something like Windows PE to get a more or less XP (or at least 2000) compatible environment... Maybe a year after this next generation of WM6.5 devices come out in quantity (because they are more powerful hardware than the current generation), I think we could see a beta emulated 32-bit windows environment...

[Fa310tx]

How timely is this.
Hehehe...
JJ

"Nvidia is considering developing an integrated chip based on the x86 architecture for use in devices such as netbooks and mobile Internet devices, said Michael Hara, vice president of investor relations at Nvidia during a speech that was webcast from the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference this week. Nvidia has already developed an integrated chip called Tegra, which combines an Arm processor, a GeForce graphics core and other components on a single chip. The chips are aimed at small devices such as smartphones and MIDs, and will start shipping in the second half of this year. 'Tegra, by any definition, is a complete computer-on-chip, and the requirements of that market are such that you have to be very low power and very small but highly efficient,' Hara said. 'Someday, it's going to make sense to take the same approach in the x86 market as well.'"