[freehunter]

On Windows Phone 8? I've been using Windows Phone since the launch of WP7 and I've never heard of a competitor's browser being allowed, nor of a decision to change this. Windows 8 possibly, but the OP seems to be confused between the two because Windows 8 doesn't run on anything ARM made by Nokia.

[ohwp]

http://www.google.com/homepage/windows8/ says "not yet available for Windows RT" so maybe there is hope?

[freehunter]

When I visit, I get "not available on Windows RT", no sign of "yet". Perhaps someone from Google saw this discussion and updated it.

http://i.imgur.com/zILTywr.png

[clauretano]

Despite both using the NT kernel on ARM, Windows 8 RT is not Windows Phone 8.

[Yoric]

I suspect any hope will have to be provided by a court of justice. Or a X-Wing.

[Yoric]

Ah, well, people seem to believe that my above post is a troll, so let me elaborate.

Windows 8 explicitly blocks the installation of any browser other than Internet Explorer (+ skins) on ARM. This is not due to a technical reason. This is due to the fact that Microsoft imitates Apple's policy that prevents any browser other than Safari (+ skins) on iOS [1]. While anti-trust rulings have forbidden Microsoft from doing this on PCs, Microsoft claims that ARM-based computers are not PCs and that the anti-trust rulings therefore do not apply. I therefore suspect that Microsoft will continue with this behavior unless a court of justice decides that ARM-based computers are also PCs. Hence my above comment.

And if anyone wonders why we need open platforms for mobile devices, that's a pretty good reason.

One source among many: http://www.linuxstall.com/microsoft-blocks-chrome-and-firefo...

[1] Yes, technologically speaking, Chrome for iOS is a reskinned Safari bundled with utilities.