Nvidia disses Android, extols Windows CE for smartbooks

Nvidia has good reason to say that Windows CE is better for ARM-based smartbooks

Will Android topple Microsoft from the smartbook market or won't it? Depends on the interests of the parties you talk to. Executives at chip maker Nvidia are siding with Microsoft.

Mike Rayfield, general manager for Nvidia's mobile business unit, says that Nvidia thinks Windows CE for ARM-based smartbooks will be better, offering a more mature, easier-to-use interface, according to a story in Computerworld.

Computerworld's Eric Lai, however, also hints that Nvidia is not unbiased. If, rumors are true, Nvidia may have a big fat interest in keeping Microsoft happy and promoting its wares. Unconfirmed reports say Microsoft's upcoming Zune HD media player will use Nvidia's latest chip, Tegra. Rayfield did confirm that Nvidia is working with Microsoft to optimize Windows CE when it runs on Tegra.

Nvidia may have another reason for playing up CE over Android. It dragged its feet over making sure its video drivers and other wares worked with Vista and that was one of the biggest culprits for Vista's reputation as a horrible operating system, says Microsoft Subnet blogger Mitchell Ashely. Last month, Nividia started a PR campaign to prove to Redmond that such a thing wouldn't happen again.

So, even though Nvidia is voting for Windows CE over Android, there's a lot of reason to take that opinion with a grain (or maybe a handful) of salt.

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• Android
• ARM-based netbooks
• Google
• Nvidia
• smartbooks
• Windows CE