R.I.P. Windows RT, another casualty in Microsoft's history

 Technology Grade 4 

Image used from http://pureinfotech.com

Microsoft has made what many of us in the tech industry, known to be true for a very long time official.  Windows RT is dead.  From its inception and subsequent release I tried to make sense of the move but for every pro there was a con.

When Microsoft released Windows RT, tablets was an emerging market that they needed to capitalize on. They  wanted to make up for lost time by releasing a limited version of Windows 8 that had a windows app store and utilized the same hardware that the available tablets were operating on. Unfortunately, their app store never gained traction in the app market and due to consumer confusion, this move hurt Microsoft's foray into the tablet market.

What Microsoft should have done was put more work into windows 8 at the time. If the resources that were used in the development of Windows RT was utilized to develop Windows 8 then the full version of Windows 8 would have had the capabilities to run on tablets. This statement is now verified to be true as not only is Windows RT dead, but the full version of Windows 8 is currently being shipped with all Windows based tablets.

Microsoft now seems to be moving in the right direction as they have started to unify their operating systems.  Windows phone, XBOne, tablets and personal computers will all be running Windows 10. It was always my hypothesis that Microsoft would have to unify their operating systems. In fact, they initialized this process with the X-Box 360 (XB360).

When they upgraded the operating system on the XB360 to the tiled interface, that was the beginning of their unification goal.  Stage 2 started with Windows phone and their transition to a tiled interface.  One can infer that Windows 9 is the bridge that connects Windows 10 to Windows phone and the XBOne, but I'm getting ahead of myself here. One of my upcoming articles will cover the upcoming Windows 10 release. Back to windows RT.

The Windows based app store never really matured and this was another reason why RT failed. Apple's iOS and Google's Android Operating systems were so mature at the time Microsoft started their app store that Microsoft would have needed to provide some sort of incentive for users and developers to create or port apps to their app store. As a result of this oversight, Microsoft lost market share in the lucrative app store business.

Microsoft seems to have seen the light and has started a rebirth that has coincided with the appointment of the new CEO Satya Nadella. Since he has taken over the reins at Microsoft there has been a lot of positive changes in their overall business plans. Putting the final nail in the windows RT coffin was another positive move in Microsoft's and more importantly Windows future.