However, on the Windows RT variant of the system - which will power cheaper tablets running on ARM-based chips - app publishers will only be able to sell their products through the Windows 8 store designed for the touchscreen interface, with all its associated restrictions.

BBC: Minecraft screenshot

And there may also be an amendment to switch elections to the Holyrood Parliament to first past the post, from the current variant of the additional member system.

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Microsoft said the model using Windows RT a variant of the Windows 8 operating system and chips from Nvidia Corp. should arrive first and be in line with pricing of similar tablets.

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Mr. Ballmer styled the new tablet device as a vehicle to exploit its forthcoming Windows 8 operating system, and a variant called Windows RT that relies on different kinds of computer chips.

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Corona's software includes an embedded Java operating system and a new variant of the old X-Windows software, which allowed for the creation of hardware-independent graphical user interfaces much like those of Windows or the Macintosh operating system.

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Differential tuition is a variant of performance-based funding, a system of allocating state higher education resources based on performance metrics such as degree completion.

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Since Japan is struggling to free itself from a banking crisis caused partly by widespread connected lending (thanks to the system of corporate groups known as keiretsu, today's variant on the zaibatsu), Mr Ochi's preferences seem most peculiar.

ECONOMIST: Japanese banking