The end of the PC era: Microsoft no longer exclusive OS for computer makers; Microsoft to port Windows to ARM processors

At the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Horace Dediu made this observation:

At this year’s CES two unthinkable things happened:

1. The abandonment of Windows exclusivity by practically all of Microsoft’s OEM customers.
2. The abandonment of Intel exclusivity by Microsoft for the next generation of Windows.

Many of Microsoft’s customers chose to use an OS product from Microsoft’s arch enemy. Some chose to roll their own. Microsoft, in turn, chose to port its OS to an architecture from Intel’s arch enemy.

These actions confirm the end of the PC era.