Acer is clearly and closely aligned with Windows, but there’s one part of Microsoft’s strategy it’s not buying into just yet. At an event on Friday in New York — in the middle of a sea of newly-announced Windows products — company President Jim Wong told PCWorld that Acer won’t build a Windows RT tablet until Windows RT 8.1 comes out. “To be honest, there’s no value doing the current version of RT,” he said. We may not have to wait long, though: Wong also alluded to Windows RT 8.1 coming in the second half of this year.
Acer still planning Windows RT tablets, but sees ‘no value’ in current version
is editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.
Acer has a fairly turbulent history with Windows RT, but has repeatedly said it’s committed to building products with Microsoft’s low-powered OS. And with Windows RT 8.1, which promises to bring a number of performance and feature enhancements along with support for 7- and 8-inch devices (and maybe even a Start button), Acer may finally have Windows tablet software it can believe in.
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