23 Facts About Windows RT

Windows RT is a deprecated mobile operating system developed by Microsoft.

Unlike Windows 8, Windows RT is only available as preloaded software on devices specifically designed for the operating system by original equipment manufacturers.

Microsoft intended for devices with Windows RT to take advantage of the architecture's power efficiency to allow for longer battery life, to use system-on-chip designs to allow for thinner devices and to provide a "reliable" experience over time.

Windows RT was released to mixed reviews from various outlets and critics.

Some felt that Windows RT devices had advantages over other mobile platforms because of its bundled software and the ability to use a wider variety of USB peripherals and accessories, but the platform was criticized for its poor software ecosystem, citing the early stage of Windows Store and its incompatibility with existing Windows software, and other limitations over Windows 8.

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Critics and analysts deemed Windows RT to be commercially unsuccessful, citing these limitations, its unclear, uncompetitive position of sitting as an underpowered system between Windows Phone and Windows 8, and the introduction of Windows 8 devices with battery life and functionality that met or exceeded that of Windows RT devices.

At the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, it was officially announced that the next version of Windows RT would provide support for system-on-chip implementations based on the ARM architecture.

Changes to the Windows RT codebase were made to optimize the OS for the internal hardware of ARM devices, but a number of technical standards traditionally used by x86 systems are used.

Windows RT Update serves as the mechanism for updating all system drivers, software, and firmware.

The first Windows RT devices were officially released alongside Windows 8 on October 26,2012.

Windows RT includes a BitLocker-based device encryption system, which passively encrypts a user's data once they sign in with a Microsoft account.

Windows RT follows the lifecycle policy of Windows 8 and Windows 8.

Additionally, Microsoft partnered with Nvidia to produce Surface – the first Windows RT-based computing device to be manufactured and marketed directly by Microsoft.

Windows RT was designed to support chips meeting the ARMv7 architecture, a 32-bit processor platform.

Need to market an ARM-compatible version of Windows RT was questioned by analysts because of recent developments in the PC industry; both Intel and AMD introduced x86-based system-on-chip designs for Windows RT 8, Atom "Clover Trail" and "Temash" respectively, in response to the growing competition from ARM licensees.

Peter Bright of Ars Technica argued that Windows RT had no clear purpose, since the power advantage of ARM-based devices was "nowhere near as clear-cut as it was two years ago", and that users would be better off purchasing Office 2013 themselves because of the removed features and licensing restrictions of Office RT.

Windows RT was met with lukewarm reaction from manufacturers; in June 2012, Hewlett-Packard canceled its plans to release a Windows RT tablet, stating that its customers felt Intel-based tablets were more appropriate for use in business environments.

Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang expressed disappointment over the market performance of Windows RT, but called on Microsoft to continue increasing its concentration on the ARM platform.

Microsoft was criticized by the developers of the Firefox web browser for effectively preventing the development of third-party web browsers for Windows RT by restricting the development of desktop applications and by not providing the same APIs and exceptions available on Windows 8 to code web browsers that can run as apps.

In January 2013, a privilege escalation exploit was discovered in the Windows kernel that can allow unsigned code to run under Windows RT; the exploit involved the use of a remote debugging tool to execute code which changes the signing level stored in RAM to allow unsigned code to execute.

Alongside his explanation of the exploit, the developer included a personal appeal to Microsoft urging them to remove the restrictions on Windows RT devices, contending that their decision was not for technical reasons, and that the devices would be more valuable if this functionality were available.

Critics interpreted Microsoft's move to cancel the launch of a smaller Surface model in May 2014 as a further sign that Microsoft, under new CEO Satya Nadella, and new device head Stephen Elop, was planning to further downplay Windows RT, given that the company had shifted its attention towards a higher-end, productivity-oriented market with the Pro 3—one which would be inappropriate for Windows RT given its positioning and limitations.

Similarly to Windows RT, it restricted software installation to applications obtained via Windows Store.