Windows RT in trouble? Report makes cryptic claims

Windows RT has not gone swimmingly so far for Microsoft, but a new report from Asia is taking this a step further, saying it will be "merged" with Windows Blue.

Digitimes' reporting can sometimes be frustratingly vague. A new report continues the tradition but makes a potentially important claim that Windows RT will be merged into Microsoft's "next-generation Windows, codenamed Blue."

Here's what the Taipei-based news site said is the basis of merging RT into Blue, citing Asia-based suppliers.

Although the PC supply chain had pushed the Windows on ARM (WoA) platform aggressively, the Windows RT's name, which has misled most consumers into believing that the operating system is able to support all existing x86 Windows programs...the lack of apps, as well as compatibility issues have all significantly damaged demand.

The report could be written off as just more odd musings from the "supply chain" if not for persistent negative comments from PC makers about Windows RT and outright rejection of the platform from some of the biggest PC makers such as Hewlett-Packard and, more recently, Samsung.

That said, it should also be noted that supply chain gossip can often be misinterpreted, as things get lost in translation when they go from the source -- in this case Microsoft -- to the supplier and then to the media.

And it's not clear what merging RT into Blue means exactly. Microsoft has been equally cryptic about what Windows Blue is, saying only that Microsoft is working "on plans to advance our devices and services, a set of plans referred to internally as 'Blue.'"

And as recently last week, Microsoft said that Windows RT is just fine, according to a CNET interview with Michael Angiulo, a corporate vice president.