Windows 8 has a lot riding on its virtual shoulders. Its success or failure will mean a lot not just for its creators at Microsoft but for one of Windows 8's biggest cheerleaders Intel. News.com reports that during the Credit Suisse technology conference on Tuesday, Intel's CEO Paul Otellini was highly optimistic about the prospects for Windows 8, saying, "I think it’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to our company."
He added that Intel felt that Windows 8 was not just a "very good operating system" for the PC market but also for the growing tablet market. Otellini said that Windows 8 " ... will allow tablets to really get a legitimacy into mainstream computing, particularly in enterprises that they don’t have today. A lot of the enterprise managers are worried about security, they’re worried about the difficulty affording their legacy applications over to an Android tablet or to an iPad. What Microsoft is doing is making that seamless for them."
Windows 8 will be able to run via its classic interface along with the new Metro-style tile interface that's being designed specifically with touch screens in mind. Otellini said, " ... So this gives us, x86, in particular, I think a unique advantage as Windows 8 comes to market, because we can take advantage of all the legacy that was ever written, and all of the fact that all the drivers for the mice and for printers and every other USB device in the world."
Otellini also talked about other subjects in his address to the technology conference. He said that PCs were not dying, claiming that interest in PCs in other parts of the world such as China, Brazil and India is growing as that country's middle class also grows and buys PCs. He also continued to push Intel's Ultrabook concept. The thin-and-light notebook design, which officially launched last month, is all about making, " ... thinner, sleeker, faster, more responsive PCs, longer battery life, more secure, but also at a mainstream price point," according to Otellini.
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