Microsoft developing Windows 8

Microsoft says it is developing a version of its main Windows operating system that will run on cell phone chips, providing an alternative for the first time to the chips based on Intel technology.

Steve Sinofsky, president of the Windows division, confirmed at a trade show in Las Vegas that Microsoft Corp. is developing a version of Windows to run on chips designed by ARM Holdings, a British company whose technology goes into practically all cell phone chips.

Sinofsky didn't say when the new version of Windows would be available. Microsoft already makes software called "Windows" for cell phones, but it has little in common with the software that runs on computers, and doesn't run the same programs.