Microsoft pledges to use ARM server chips in challenge to Intel

An advertisement is played on a set of large screens at the Microsoft office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Microsoft Corp is committing to use chips based on ARM Holdings Plc technology in the machines that run its cloud services, potentially imperilling Intel Corp’s longtime dominance in the profitable market for datacentre processors. 

Microsoft has developed a version of its Windows operating system for servers using ARM processors, working with Qualcomm Inc and Cavium Inc. The software maker is now testing these chips for tasks like search, storage, machine learning and big data, said Jason Zander, vice president of Microsoft's Azure cloud division.