Windows already had no advantage - all programs would need to be rebuilt for the new platform. That's what killed Windows NT on everything non-x86.
The only apps that will be cross-platform will be WinRT/Metro based ones.
The only apps that will be cross-platform will be WinRT/Metro based ones.
And Android, iOS and OSX are all waiting in line for my attention before I consider learning modern Windows development again. I sincerely hope that, if I wait long enough, I won't need to ;-)
I thought for Windows 8, Microsoft is pushing WinRT as the cross-platform solution, and that "binaries" crossing from x86/x64 to arm will work as-is for javascript, as-is (if pure) for CLR, and with no modifications but requiring recompilation for native (C/C++) WinRT apps.
That said, rumor has it that the next version of Windows Phone will not be Silverlight (though XAML and Silverlight are fairly similar), but based on WinRT.
That's a good thing because it will allow Windows Phone Apps to better integrate Javascript.
Is this true? The code is cross-platform, but I was under the impression that the executable was not. You still need to compile the app for both X86 and ARM.