Microsoft's announcement of the tablet-esque Windows 8 has really made a big splash and has seen many mixed reactions. The new version has Metro and ARM, which can really help push Microsoft in a new direction.
ARM Processor support alongside x86 is huge and has opened Windows up to a whole new array of devices. One rumor that has circulated is that Windows Phone 8 might swap out CE for NT, meaning it would be based on Windows 8 technology.
Microsoft has yet to confirm such a notion but it hasn’t stopped the rumors from flowing.
For those who want to go a step further and stop just speculating, it is actually possible to have a Windows 8 phone right now. This phone is actually an x86 phone by HTC, the Shift.
For those of you that don’t remember the Shift, it was a failed project that teamed HTC with Microsoft to develop a specialized phone that would use Windows Vista.
Considering Windows Vista wasn’t exactly well received and such a phone was likely big, bulky, and not touch optimized it really isn’t a surprise that it didn’t do well. Keep in mind this isn’t the EVO Shift, which is an entirely different handset.
The lack of success means that getting a hold of a Shift shouldn’t set you back too far in cash and although it isn’t very powerful and is a bulky machine, it could still be a phone Windows 8 project.
