Intel boss heaps praise on Windows 8

Intel CEO Paul Otellini has lavished praise on Windows 8, describing it as "one of the best things that’s ever happened to our company".

While Windows 8 - which brings ARM support to the operating system for the first time - poses a potential threat to Intel, Otellini claimed it could transform both the PC and tablet markets.

"We are very excited about Windows 8," Otellini said during a speech at the Credit Suisse technology conference, according to a report on ZDNet.

"I think it’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to our company. And it’s a very good operating system, not just for PCs, but we think also will allow tablets to really get a legitimacy into mainstream computing, particularly in enterprises that they don’t have today."

Otellini claimed existing tablet OSes posed too many difficulties for IT managers. "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," he claimed.

"What Microsoft is doing is making that seamless for them. And they have a new experience, which they call Metro, that’s the interface up there. But for Intel-based machines, there is also one button that basically takes you back to your classic Windows experience and that’s a software button essentially."

Revamping PCs

Intel isn't giving up on PCs, however. Otellini claims the company's new breed of ultraportable laptops will breathe new life into the stagnant PC market.

"I think it’s gotten a little stale," Otellini said of the PC. "There was a rush to the bottom, in terms of lowering the costs and taking features out and making the PC a little bit more boring than their counterparts in consumer electronics, for example, the iPad kinds of devices."

Otellini claimed Intel's Ultrabook initiative was about delivering "thinner, sleeker, faster, more responsive PCs, longer battery life, more secure, but also at a mainstream price point".

"The Apple MacBook Air has been out for several years now, but... it’s a premium-priced device," the Intel boss concluded.

This article originally appeared at pcpro.co.uk