In a cell phone world where tick-tock happens, but it happens twice as fast and chip power goes up by 3-6x Moore's law each 18 months instead of just doubling, the old school PC world where a Windows version lasts 3-5 years just isn't going to cut it.
Windows 8 was noticeably not up to snuff on tablets the day it came out (no talkee to your tablet, certainly no talkee back from your Win8 surface machine) -- what will that level of behind be like after Apple and Google tweak at each other for another 6-12 months, driving their mutual mad rush to <20 nanometers to totally eclipse Intel's 22 nanometer technology and Microsoft's latest & greatest just released (already behind) Win8 technology level?
Wintel holds to the pace they are going at now, they will be competing with the cheap Chinese chip guys for the year old leftovers (and not price competitive at all in their "chosen marketplace").
Watch Wine/Reactos -- if it comes to fruit (mostly based off of a Wine basis like it is now) then MS really has no grip upon it legally. Wine can run most older x86 software now on Linux (and Android IS Linux) so a Google/Ubuntu supported Wine/Reactos/Android "run anything" might well come to pass if MS remains stubborn.
If you can suddenly run ALL your old x86 favorite softwares off a ARM chipset and MS won't do the same, who needs MS anymore?
Of course, if Intel comes up with a wonder chip that clearly outperforms ARM 64 at an equivalent price point, then MS has a place to hang that stubborn hat. But they need that super chip at a price competitive point and they need it SOON.
But 'ol Intel isn't going to be able to get $999.99 for a new generation chip any more, not when the competition's latest greatest sells for $33-50 a chip. It simply isn't going to happen any more.
Intel still sells a lot of chips to a lot of people, but as these products are redesigned to use the lower cost similar power ARM chip their other markets will evaporate just like the PC and Server markets are doing.
Trying to keep ARM out by refusing to give full Windows support for it intentionally is sorta stupid in the long run, actually. x86 software vendors might just write some ARM versions and then where are you, Microsoft?
Google Nexus 7 (with speech commands and reply) $199.99
(current sales at over 1 million per month)Amazon Kindle Fire (load Google Now for speech) $199.99
(current sales at just under a million per month)Apple IPad 3s (with speach commands and reply) $499.99
(peak sales at 3 million on first weekend it came out)Win8 Surface (no talkee) $599.99 ($699 with the keyboard cover)
(sales figures being held secret -- rumored to be only 50,000 units sold on introduction weekend)
So, for the price of the keyboard cover, I can almost buy another Nexus 7 or a Amazon Kindle Fire for my wife?