Windows RT could be axed, suggests Larson-Green

Windows RT could be heading for the dumper, after a Microsoft senior executive hinted that a rationalisation of its OS line-up is on the cards.

Speaking at the UBS Seminar, Julie Larson-Green, executive vice president of Devices and Studios at Microsoft, explained Windows RT was the software giant's attempt to ape the more simplified users experience offered by the likes of Apple's iPad.

"Windows RT was our first go at creating that more closed, turnkey experience, where it doesn't have all the flexibility of Windows, but it has the power of Office and then all the new style applications," she said.

"The goal was to deliver two kinds of experiences to the market: the full power of your Windows PC [with Windows 8], and the simplicity of a tablet experience that can also be productive [Windows RT]."

However, the differences between the two operating systems may not have been explained very well, she admits, or the differences between the two devices they featured most prominently on. These include the Surface RT and the Surface Pro.

"I think we didn't differentiate the devices well enough. They looked similar. Using them is similar. It just didn't do everything that you expected Windows to do," Larson-Green explained.

"So there's been a lot of talk about [how] it should have been a rebranding. We should not have called it Windows...I think over time you'll see us continue to differentiate more."

That being said, she then goes on to suggest the firm is planning to curtail the number of different versions of Windows it offers in future.

"We have the Windows Phone OS. We have Windows RT and we have full Windows. We're not going to have three. We do think there's a world where there is a more mobile operating system that doesn't have the risks to battery life, or the risks to security," she added.

"But it also comes at the cost of flexibility. So we believe in that vision and that direction and we're continuing down that path."

The future of Windows RT has been at the centre of speculation since Microsoft dropped any mention of the operating system from the name of its second generation tablet, the Surface 2.