Of course, the biggest piece of the puzzle here is Redmond’s acquisition of Nokia.

And while the company is now looking to expand its presence on the mobile market, the current situation does make for an interesting scenario — Nokia has a commanding 90 percent or something share of Windows Phone market.

Since it will now become part of Microsoft, the main source of profits from Windows Phone licensing pretty much evaporates. And considering the fact that Threshold is supposed to bring the tablet and mobile operating systems together, a change of strategy is now necessary.

As The Verge is reporting, Microsoft is now contemplating making both of them free for mobile manufactures. OEMs that plan on selling Windows RT and Windows Phone devices will have no license costs associated with these two operating system.

If this happens, it obviously means that developing and bringing to market such products in the future would become cheaper. Ultimately, this would bring Microsoft a significant market share, both in the tablet and mobile phone markets.

The very definition of win-win, don’t you guys think?

Nokia is soon to become part of Microsoft, and other device makers are showing increased interest in Windows 8.1 Pro on Intel Atom processors rather than Windows RT on ARM chips.

News first came out exactly one week back (last Friday) that Redmond was discussing with HTC the notion that the Taiwanese hardware maker install Windows Phone on its devices that come with Google’s Android as a dual boot option.

In fact, Microsoft was said to be willing to offer the mobile OS for free in this case.

And now according to this report, Redmond has expanded the circle to include both Samsung and Huawei, and wants both companies to install its operating systems for free on their devices, including smartphones and tablets.

The exact reaction from both companies is currently unknown at the moment.

But the good news is that Samsung is indeed working on a dual boot tablet that will come with both Android and Windows RT. Truth be told, this is a total win for users — there is immense value in having two operating systems instead of one.

Anyway, while this is a compellingly easy choice to make for end users, hardware vendors, however, have to take into consideration factors like expanded storage for two operating systems, a unified applications processor, and hardware components that support both Windows and Android.

Still, these are signs that Microsoft is at least very serious in mounting a real challenge in the mobile market, and if it comes in the form of sharing space with Android, so be it.

And prime amongst them are the updates reserved for its mobile platforms.

Microsoft insider MSFTnerd wrote on Twitter that Terry Myerson, the man in charge of the operating systems division inside Redmond has finally decided to slowly merge Windows RT with Windows Phone in the coming future.

Slowly, in this case, being a period of around two years.

As it stands, Microsoft plans to use the GDR update cycle to deliver these improvements to users, with things kicking off with the first such release that is on track for an early 2014 launch.

The famous tipster wrote:

“Windows will be developed in 2 separate but synced branches, namely Windows for SoC and Windows for datacenters, with the latter to come in two different versions (x86 and ARM).”

Three different GDR updates are said to be in store for 2014, with each one bringing the two platforms closer to one another. Redmond is obviously yet to comment on these rumors, surely not so early on, but this is not the first time people have talked about a merger of the Phone and RT platforms.

There may surely be some behind this — how much, only time will tell.

But with Windows RT pretty much becoming a niche platform of sorts, with hardware partners shying away from the Windows on ARM concept, it only makes sense.

And even though there were reports that Dell was still in the Windows RT game and was planning to launch at least on product based on the ARM platform, the company has decided to call it quits and join the list of other Microsoft partners that have abandoned the platform.

The company has confirmed that it will not be releasing any other Windows RT product, at least in the foreseeable future, as it aims to provide users with what it calls the full Windows experience.

Neil Hand, the head of tablets over at Dell, talking to CNET said:

“We are not planning to refresh our current line of RT products. We’re really focused on full Windows products. The full Windows experience provides great capability.”

The executive also revealed that the XPS 10 would be phased out — the tablet is already removed from the US market as of this writing. Hand continued:

“We are very good at understanding our true customer demand and adjusting our supply chain to fit that in real time.”

When it comes to the reasoning behind this decision, the lack of software applications is once again cited as one of the main setbacks for tablets and devices that run Windows RT. Perhaps as significant is the fact that the high price of these products also drives users away from Windows on ARM.

Sam Burd, vice president of Dell’s PC business had this to add:

“For the same range of price, you can get a full Windows 8 tablet. If you want to run the new Windows 8 interface, you can, but you can also run all the old apps as before. That’s hard to compete against. Unless you’re priced far below that, there’s just not space.”

Fair enough, I say.

Microsoft now remains the lone ranger, and the only company that continues to stand behind and bet big on the Windows RT platform. Redmond has enhanced and implemented a bunch of new additions into its upcoming Windows RT 8.1 that powers its new Surface 2 tablet.

These include improved touch, a number of additional customization features, along with support for smaller devices — things the technology titan aims to put to good use in the reported Surface Mini.

Windows on ARM (or Windows RT as Microsoft for some reason decided to call it) launched with great fanfare and anticipation in the fall of 2012. Five companies started developing hardware solutions powered by the new platform — now only one actively remains.

With Dell seemingly out, Microsoft is now the only company that is selling Windows RT based products.

The last third party vendor, Dell, has stopped selling its lone product the XPS 10, which is now listed as unavailable on its store. Instead, the company now directs customers towards its Latitude 10 tablet powered by Windows 8 as an alternative.

Asus, Lenovo and Samsung have over the past few months have announced that they are dropping out of the Windows RT game.

According to these companies the battery life and performance improvements in Intel’s latest Atom processors are reasons enough to finally say goodbye to the platform. And it goes without saying that the chip giant will further improve its affordable CPUs that can run Windows 8 Pro.

Of course, there is always a possibility that Dell may announce a Windows RT product in the near future, as Neil Hand, the head of the company’s tablet and high-end PC business recently stated that it still plans to introduce new Windows RT devices going forward.

But nothing has been announced as of right now, leaving the original Surface RT and the refreshed Surface 2 the only two remaining Windows RT products.

These are reported to soon be joined by Nokia’s Windows RT slate, as the Finnish company is said to be working on an ARM tablet powered by the Snapdragon 800 processor and running Windows RT 8.1.

And while the final RTM version of Windows 8.1 has been around for a while now, thanks to a number of leaked ISOs that made their ways to torrent and file sharing websites in late August, the RT version of not been sighted — until now.

The update to the company’s tablet oriented operating system has barely made the news, both during development and after hitting the RTM milestone. The reason for this is that Microsoft did not talk too much about it, while at the same time the company managed to keep it away from users.

But Windows RT 8.1 RTM got leaked online earlier today. Those of you who own an RT tablet (either the Surface RT or a slate from other vendors) can search for download it right away.

The popular Russian technology group WZOR is said to be the one that has managed to leak the RTM version. The build string for the RT version is 9600.16384.130821-1623 — which makes it the same as the regular x86 and x64 versions of the operating system.

File size is reportedly in the 2.43GB range.

In fact, many flavors of the operating system are up for grabs. These include ISOs that contain language packs, drivers and even Office 2013 RT. And from first look, they all seem to be the real deal — the official versions of the ARM based operating system that is scheduled to go live in October.

Windows RT 8.1 will officially make its debut in October, together with the desktop version of the OS.

As is usual the case, Microsoft does not recommend users to install leaked versions of its software, so waiting until October 18 until the operating system goes live is not the worse idea in the world.

More adventurous amongst you can, however, start looking for links.

Windows RT 8.1 is expected on the same day as other new versions of various Microsoft operating systems. This refresh of the tablet oriented operating system includes many of the features that Redmond has developed for Windows 8.1.

And this commitment confirms the fact that the software titan continues to bet big on Windows RT.

Its partners, on the other hand, are slowly dumping the platform. Many hardware vendors have recently explained that Windows 8 is a much better alternative for both OEMs and consumers.

And now Lenovo has seemingly joined this party. The world’s largest hardware maker seems to be ready to step away from Windows RT altogether, with a company executive recently claiming that nobody needs Windows RT anymore.

Engadget is reporting that Lenovo’s Australian marketing chief Nick Reynolds spoke during a press conference that Windows RT should no longer exist — as clear cut a comment as any!

The reason being that Intel’s newly launched Haswell chips make it possible to run the full version of Windows 8 without significant drop in battery life. To its credit, the chip giant really seems to have figured out the power requirements in both the Haswell and newer Atom chips.

And that leaves Windows RT with an even steeper hill to climb, even though Microsoft seems to be committed and fully behind its ARM based operating platform.

And the way how things are shaping up, it sounds that Redmond does not care too much which platform the Windows XP user base chooses — Windows 7 or Windows 8.

But Richard Edwards, an Ovum analyst has brought up quite an interesting alternative. He suggests that many of the Windows XP users can switch to Windows RT. Sure, it may not offer the same level of productivity, but the operating system can still live up to a number of expectations.

The analyst was quoted by PCPro as saying:

“When a lot of folks bought that XP computer, there wasn’t anything else they could buy.

They could buy a laptop, but there was no such thing as an iPad or Nexus 7. There’s an opportunity there for those with old XP devices to pick up a replacement RT device and plug in that Windows printer, keyboard and other peripherals and stick with familiar apps such as Office.”

Windows RT adoption currently is not all that impressive. The ARM based operating system is said to have a rather modest market share. To top it off several hardware vendors have announced that they are abandoning the platform.

But Microsoft is still standing by Windows RT, and the technology titan seems really keen to continue improving this flavor of its latest operating system, with both enterprise and end user features. A number of new devices are expected to hit the store shelves before the end of the year.

What are your thoughts on this, folks? Do you see Windows RT as a valid (and affordable) alternative to Windows XP computers in your organization?

Share your thoughts on this rather interesting topic in the comments section below.

But the fanfare that followed the announcement of Windows on ARM has not quite translated to sales numbers. Various reports have confirmed disappoint sales, which in turn has led to a number of large hardware vendors walking out on the platform.

From Samsung to Asus, multiple companies are either playing the waiting game, or have outright announced their plans to abandon the RT platform and shift focus to the full version of Windows 8.

Microsoft, however, still seems very keen to continue development of Windows RT, and the company has even promised to release even more ARM based devices in the months to come.

A Redmond spokesperson, in a short interview with CNET confirmed that despite the fact that some other manufactures have abandoned the platform, Microsoft plans to stand behind Windows RT and is already working with a few partners to bring new ARM units to the market:

“Windows remains committed to the ARM platform. We are looking forward to new ARM-based Windows devices that will launch later this year.”

While Redmond has not talked too much about the future of ARM, the technology titan is said to be collaborating with both NVIDIA and Qualcomm on new second generation Surface units, which should be here by the holiday season.

Microsoft appears to be working towards making the new Surface RT slates not only more advanced than the one currently available, but also a lot more affordable.

There were rumors that Asus would stop making products based on the ARM version of Windows, but today the company made it official.

Like a few other companies, Asus had recently shifted focus towards devices with Intel Atom processors inside. And now The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Asus has cited the lack of compatibility with legacy Windows applications as one of the main reasons for the poor sales of its Windows RT slate.

The company released only one Windows RT device, the VivoTab RT, which actually launched in October 2012 alongside Microsoft’s very own ARM based device, the Surface RT.

Asus CEO Jerry Shen was quoted as saying:

“It’s not only our opinion, the industry sentiment is also that Windows RT has not been successful.”

The company took a write down charge on sales of the VivoTab RT in its second quarter, though Asus did not disclose a specific number.

With Asus officially out of the Windows RT game, it is possible that other Windows RT tablet makers will follow suit. Many companies, including Lenovo, have begun to release tablets that make use of the latest Intel Atom models.

Microsoft is, obviously, still committed to Windows RT, and the company has reiterated its decision to release new ARM based products. Dell has recently expressed its desire to continue releasing Windows RT devices, and there are rumors that Nokia is developing its very own Windows RT tablet.