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RE[2]: No puzzle
by hhas on Wed 3rd Jul 2013 00:41 UTC in reply to "RE: No puzzle"
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"Because there is already an very good and extremely popular mobile OS for Windows users. It's called "Android".

The problem with Android though is that you can't run the same apps on mobile, tablet, and desktop. For those of us that still live mostly on the desktop, this is a big deal.

Hence MS's retooling of Windows 8+ in order to offer something that neither the Win7/Android not OSX/iOS combos can. If they pull it off, it will be a major USP for them indeed.

Despite the predictions of many pundits (probably since the 80's), the desktop is not going away any time soon.

No, but it will evolve, and it will also become much more of a niche product, just one of many task-specific tools available to users to mix and match as needed. Most folks who bought Windows PCs in the past didn't do so because it was the best tool for them, but only because it was the least awful option out of a tiny undistinguished choice.

But hardware has now crossed into the post-scarcity era, breaking the back of the jack-of-all-trades PC as the one-size-fits-all answer. And as you say the next great challenge for vendors - and huge potential market win for whoever first pulls it off - is getting all these different devices to talk seamlessly to one another.

So don't count MS out: there is some method in their current madness (albeit belatedly compensating for the lack of method in their method), and they do have a record of bringing their best game when coming from the back. Given they usually start hitting their stride/scaring the competition around their V3, I'd say Win9 will be the one to watch for in determining whether they've pulled it off once again.

Apple building in from two sides, Google up from the bottom, MS out from the center. And each determined to eat the other two's lunch for breakfast. Interesting interesting times indeed. ;)

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