Why Android is a serious problem for Microsoft

This is a serious problem for Microsoft. As the dominant force in personal computing since the 1980s, the "immovable object" that is Windows has been displaced by the "unstoppable force" that is Android.

The troubling part about this for Microsoft is that it took less than ten years for Android to overtake Redmond's multi-decade reign. With unrelenting momentum and pervasive ubiquity, what might the next ten years yield for Google and Android as Microsoft struggles to make Windows relevant in the modern age of mobile computing?

Writing was on the wall

I can't say that I'm surprised by Android's surpassing of Windows as the most used OS. In fact, no one who follows tech should have been. Since Android's introduction to the consumer masses in 2008, it has seen a meteoric rise.

Part of what is an open source OS, Android Open Source Project (AOSP) became Google's "proprietary" OS of sorts via company-driven updates and the Google Play Store. In other words, Google found a way to make an open source OS a leash that keeps most Android-using OEMs tethered to Google. (China-based smartphone maker Xiaomi and online retailer Amazon are exceptions.)

Google established agreements with OEM partners that effectively locked them in if those companies wanted the invaluable benefit of the Google Play Store on their Android phones. Without the popular suite of Google-branded products and the Play Store, most OEM devices would have little consumer appeal in the fierce smartphone market. Ultimately, as a free OS, a host of manufacturing partners embraced Android in hopes of staking a claim in the highly competitive consumer smartphone space that Apple, by way of the iPhone, had established as its domain.

Google, of course, reaped the benefits produced by the intense competition between Android OEMs. Regardless of what Android OEM "won," after all, Google was also a winner.

Samsung eventually rose to be the dominant Android OEM worldwide. As the provider of a host of popular Android-based devices including smartphones, tablets and wearables, Samsung is a major force in pushing Android to the masses.

Dominance

With the help of the Samsung powerhouse and other OEMs, Android dominates the smartphone space with over 80 percent market share. This position in what is currently the most relevant personal computing space echoes Microsoft's 90 percent market share in the PC space. Both positions seem entrenched and unalterable. Of course, Google's pursuit to rule personal computing does not end within the confines of the smartphone space.

Like Microsoft, the Mountain View company is pursuing dominance across a range of personal computing platforms. The benefit Google has is that mobile, which it rules via Android, is a portal to virtually all other computing platforms such as IoT, wearables and more. Consumers and developers alike are embracing Android's steady march into our daily routines.

The pervasive nature of Android in the everyday lives of consumers is a major problem for Microsoft. In years past, when personal computing was limited to the sedentary context of the PC, consumers saw Microsoft's Windows OS and its suite of products and services as the platform for computing. Today's transient computing reality, where our digital experiences live in the cloud, are supported by AI, and transition across an array of devices, is the new reality in which consumers live.

Sadly, this reality is one for which Microsoft has big dreams but little consumer presence. Android, however, is front and center, and it is aggressively seizing consumer mindshare.

An AI-driven vision

Google's CEO Sundar Pichai shared in an interview last year that said he wants to bring computing to "your phone, your wearables, your car, and your home." At the core of this drive is AI. Whereas Microsoft's vision is a cloud-first, mobile-first strategy, Pichai is moving Google from mobile to AI. This is evident in the company's hardware portfolio, which is positioned to showcase AI, as with the Pixel.

That isn't to say that Microsoft has no AI strategy. I have written extensively about Microsoft's AI vision, cognitive services, Conversation Canvases, Bots FrameWork and quantum computing investments.

Gates and Ballmer paved the way for Nadella's AI and bots

Sadly, when it comes to actual products that consumers use and recognize as Microsoft-branded, not even Cortana's integration in 500 million Windows 10 desktop PCs seems to be making a mark for Microsoft. The new Google Assistant, an evolution of Google's well-known Google Now, and Siri are increasingly part of our culture, however.

Samsung is Viv-ing it up

Furthermore, Samsung purchased the startup Viv whose founder Dag Kittlaus helped to create AI that was designed for a ubiquitous, unbounded presence on various devices.

Kittlaus stated the following when asked about selling the company before the Samsung acquisition:

Our goal for this is ubiquity. And we're going to follow the path to ubiquity. We've had acquisition offers in the past that we have not gone with … We're going to stay true to what we think is the right way to get to get to ubiquity.

The manifestation of the Viv AI as Bixby on the Galaxy line of smartphones is just an initial step of Viv's AI integration in Samsung's broad range of products. Post-acquisition, Viv still runs independently, and as Kittlaus keeps Viv as an open platform, he sees an opportunity with the more than 500 million products (not just smartphones) Samsung ships every year.

Like Siri and Google Assistant, Bixby, with Samsung's product integration and promotion, may become a more recognized part of our lives.

The Internet of Intelligent Things: Google, Samsung, Microsoft, and the new battlefront

Marketing matters

At a recent doctor appointment, my one-year old daughter activated Cortana on my Windows phone. The nurse responded, "She's talking to Siri." I muttered an indication that it was Cortana but didn't bother explaining further.

I wish Microsoft was making greater efforts to promote its products. It would make advocacy from fans like myself a lot easier. Google, by contrast, is putting forth great efforts to ensure consumers are aware of its Assistant, as seen in the television ad below:

Aggressive ads in conjunction with integrated services, such as Google Assistant integration in Google's messaging platform Allo, help to put this Android-based AI and other products in front of consumers.

I recently asked, "With Surface phone, will Microsoft learn from its past marketing mistakes?" As I emphasized in that piece, Microsoft leans heavily on a marketing strategy where it uses its products to advertise its other products rather than spending massive marketing dollars on TV ads and other marketing. An example is Microsoft's hope that Cortana's integration in Windows 10 and Edge will help promote Cortana. Though there were TV ads using Cortana in the past, we see nothing promoting the assistant's benefits on Windows 10 for PC or other platforms.

By contrast, Google uses sensory and emotionally compelling ads to supplement product integration. The little mindshare Cortana has among consumers despite integration in Windows 10, iOS, Android and Windows phone is indicative of which strategy is more effective.

AI, bots and Canvases Part IV: The war is on! Microsoft is not alone.

A home run … by Android

Google Home is Google's Alexa-like voice-activated smart home control hub. Consumers who have grown accustomed to initiating a digital assistant on their Android phones with the phrase, "OK, Google Now," are doing the same in their homes with the command "OK Google." For consumers like myself who have not purchased a Google Home, the ads that demonstrate its functionality are still helping Google capture mindshare.

While consumers are buying and using these devices that are pushing Google's AI-driven Android vision, techies and enthusiasts are reminded that Microsoft's Cortana-based alternative is coming soon. Sadly, regular consumers have no idea such an alternative even exists.

By the time Microsoft gets to market with its alternative (particularly if Microsoft continues its less than aggressive advertising legacy), Alexa and Google Home may leave Microsoft's Cortana speakers homeless.

Furthermore, though Microsoft is providing a broad platform (opens in new tab) for the automotive industry using its cloud-based intelligence services, the lack of a consumer-facing tool like Android Auto is a void in Microsoft's personal computing portfolio.

Who are you wearing?

Wearables such as smartwatches and fitness bands have not taken off with consumers to the degree some would have hoped. Still, it is a space that is being addressed by Android Wear, a version of Android for wearables and smartwatches, and by Apple via the Apple Watch. Microsoft had two iterations of its Band on the market before unceremoniously vacating the wearables space.

Consumers, who are looking to extend their personal computing experiences to their wrists have a number of Android-based options. If a customer wanted a wearable based on Windows 10, the OS that is supposed to conform to all form factors and device types, not so much. Even if Microsoft is planning something to replace its now defunct Band, retailers can't stock their shelves with plans.

One of the few spaces that Microsoft seems to have an undisputed lead in a new personal computing form is "Mixed Reality." With HoloLens and the Mixed Reality platform, Microsoft is a leader. As a platform company, Microsoft has utilized partnerships to help bring VR headsets to market. Unfortunately, with a delay of the next version of HoloLens, the more interesting augmented reality (AR) headsets seem a long way off for consumers.

Will an Android-based (or iOS-based) option swoop in and capture the consumer mindshare that Microsoft's older technology could - should - have possibly garnered?

Does Microsoft know how to reach consumers?

For many years Microsoft has been an enterprise-focused company. Its success in the PC consumer space was a result of its enterprise success spilling over into the home. There was a personal computing void in the home that needed to be filled. Consumer experiences with Microsoft's products at work, combined with few other options, made Microsoft's trek into the consumer space a journey with little resistance.

That legacy and a marketing strategy that obviously lacks the aggressive appeal for consumers does little to stall the unrelenting march of the Android machine. Given the ground Microsoft has lost in such a short time, one would hope the company would alter its marketing methods. If Microsoft isn't careful, even its dominance in the PC space may lose ground to Android.

With all the excitement over Windows 10 on ARM, don't forget about Google's Andromeda

Samsung's Galaxy S8 and its desktop emulating Continuum-like capabilities via the DeX dock won't put a dent in Microsoft's 90 percent dominance in the PC space anytime soon. Still, Microsoft should be wary.

Like Android apps on Chromebooks, Samsung's Galaxy 8 Continuum-like features are yet another step of a seemingly unstoppable OS into Microsoft's personal computing territory. From smartphones, AI, smart speakers, wearables and the PC, Android is either dominating these personal computing platforms or making inroads on Microsoft.

So, yes, Microsoft has a very real Android problem.

Jason L Ward is a columnist at Windows Central. He provides unique big picture analysis of the complex world of Microsoft. Jason takes the small clues and gives you an insightful big picture perspective through storytelling that you won't find *anywhere* else. Seriously, this dude thinks outside the box. Follow him on Twitter at @JLTechWord. He's doing the "write" thing!

430 Comments

Thanks for reading folks. Microsoft clearly has a lot of vision and an indisputable knack at innovation. The company however is slow with execution and chronically poor at swiftly getting its innovative vision in the form of products consumers can use. By the time Microsoft demonstrates proof of concept, competitors seem to take either all or a portion of the idea an apply it in a consumer facing product that gains the mindshare of "Joe Consumer", leaving techies and Microsoft watchers, crying "Microsoft did it first." Android is gobbling up "territory" in various areas of the modern personal computing space. What can Microsoft do to remain relevant and possibly become a more powerful force in personal computing as it is represented today? LET'S TALK!!!
Everything is bad for Microsoft.
lets be honest, its only Microsofts fault. They are in a hibernated state in which they are wasting money on future projects but canceling them before start. Bill Gates made an imperium based on his arrogant, narcissistic behaviour. After 20y. the whole imperium is falling behind Android. Where is the problem? The problem is the lack of a true LEADER with clear future VISIONS. Not another Jobs or Gates NO... just a normal guy with common sense!
There is no lack of leaders at MS. One to promote WP and the other to bury it. The 'Cloud First and Mobile First' strategy turns into 'Cloud First, Mobile Last'. They are so shy to even talk about their mobile strategy now. They started HoloLens but delays the version 2 till 2019 so their competitors -Apple, Facebook, etc. can catch up. We are witnessing another WM experience to repeat itself.
I really thought we would have a Holo Lense to purchase by now. I was all prepared to be one of the first to consumers to buy it and its still another two years away after being unveiled what two years ago? I wish they would just wait to reveal anything until its ready for consumers to purchase instead of revealing it way too early and making people wait.
I think their phone & HoloLens projects got effected by Intel pulling out from that processor market. It's better for future on ARM.
This ENTIRE article is a about awareness, and poor marketing, WHICH I'VE BEEN SAYING IS THE PROBLEM FOR YEARS... Maybe if more of y'all were with me, instead of against me, on this message,,, MS might have actually got the message... SMDH.
..........
I will always say that MARKETING is MS's biggest issue. Marketing in every aspect of the word.
... Like it says in the article, MS hopes that marketing of It's products will happen by way of It's other products... "Hopes that marketing will happen". Pathetic, and I've been saying this even before Jason was here as an editor. MS shouldn't guess, hope, or gamble on what might happen, instead they should make it happen.... Spend the money to make things happen.. DO MORE TELEVISION ADS!... And, don't tell me there's no money. Money???? Ummm, they have enough money to spend on buying a predictive text, and keyboard technology company, and still have $hity keyboards on WM, and really on all their products.... Answer this question for me... Why, how, and why, are they so damnz clueless?
I been preaching to the same choir as you. MS has the worst Marketing in the world. Sadly they rely on the 3rd party vendors, that have been sitting on thier cash for years. With MS cash and resources, I could dominarte the world in 2 years.
Right. Lol. Most organizations would kill with MS's resource... MS made a great product (the band), and nobody knew about it......
...........
MS is just a proof of concept company now. MS has good ideas, and can build great products, and other companies take MS's ideas, and make it happen... For that reason MS will always be around... The money MS makes on patents' alone could pay for heavier advertisements for their products, but they don't care..... Question is, why, how, and who, took care of Surface?... Still, MS has many other products with their name, that nobody knows about.. Band was a ridiculous waste of time. All that money could've gone towards WP marketing... Just stupid **** happening. Horrific management of terrific products. What a stupid way to fail.
Stupid.....
Hear hear! The article alludes to Microsoft not knowing how to reach consumers, and this is exactly the problem. They're still selling B2B like they're IBM in the 80's. XBox would probably be the one exception to this. Microsoft needs to drop their current marketting parter/s, get people who know how to create a message for the CONSUMER, and then SPEND THE GODDAM MONEY.
I agree and disagree. Microsoft still sell more in the PC world than anyone else and by a lot. The difference now is general people don't buy a pc Evey few years now because they have got to a point where they can run for 7 to 10 years in terms of what general people use them for and let's face it it's work excel outlook and general work. People have moved onto tablets/smart phones as they can in general use them for everything they need day to day. What'sapp Facebook, Twitter, emails, general shopping ect. Microsofts biggest issue is in that department as the PC market they are still ahead of the game with the surface lines and they are also selling better than the 3rd party tablets to. I do think we are in a changing world for smart phones now though as they become more powerful we need them to do more with this power. Continuum is one advantage Microsoft have but with that they need to push it out to the market and take a line how are doing where you can buy the phone and get the laptop/table top doc but they need to do if for less than a price of a tablet and phone. Windows 10 also need the apps that people use the most to and this is there biggest issue right now.all that said i still wonder what's going to happen with android as i still see Samsung pulling out withing the next 5 years with there phone and if they do that will they see a drop in its own os? As i said interesting times and changes are now being made which could turn everything on its head.
Today is not the day to make a case for MS, defend them, or disagree with us.... Come back tomorrow, and we may have sympathy, but not today. 😂
Run-on sentences anyone? How about some poor spelling and improper synonyms? No? Better skip this post then.
Your message is confusing to read. Use periods now and then and avoid unnecessary adjectives.
And I have been saying that Microsoft is an US-Only compagnie. That means: we only care about making money. NOTHING else.
@Rodneyej. Microsoft to me is apparent that they are treating the world as a engineering solution as opposed to a psychological one. People aren't numbers and try as one might cannot be quantified or categorised into specific typologies. The management wants to focus on their strengths. Sure that's understandable but in doing so they are also undermining their "strengths". For example It's a doc treating a sprained ankle - telling the patient not to use that leg and walk normally. Practically impossible but since the doctor said it, the patient will try anyway. With Microsoft's "logic" just remove the offending leg until it's healed than re-attach it. But only to realise - oh wait.... You cannot re-attach a limb without complicated nerve surgery and using technology that doesn't "exist yet" so the patient must wait and hobble around with one leg in hopes , just maybe, just maybe that tech will appear in their life time. Microsoft has the tools and they must focus on mobile before they lose everything completely. Mobile is the defacto gateway whether they like it or not.
Agree. Well said.
I'm with you and have been letting Satya & Terry know routinely on twitter instead of just in here. Check my twitter @OMG5. I'm sure Satya hates me if he even reads posts.
If I was the CEO, first I would fire the marketing team. Next focus on the world at large rather than over-focus on only US market.
I am behind you 100%. Remember those exclusives
Right now cortana is not worldwide, Never heard of any android exclusives, they treat everyone as equal.
They are selective on implementing features from user feedback,
Why was here maps removed, leaving us with half baked Windows/Microsoft Maps.
Microsoft doesn't have any marketing team...
"Maybe if more of y'all were with me, instead of against me, on this message" I guess your advertising is bad then ;) :P Anyway... Even if we all stood together, Microsoft still would have done(doing) the same mistakes...
The point is that they need guidance... If you think back, when great changes happen with WP it was because the masses took to the user voice pages... MS needs to he told what to do next.
Your argument makes no sense... by skyping hololonens version 2 straight to version 3 does not mean that Microsoft will be left behind by apple or google, it means the exact opposite. They will be even further ahead than both than both them since Microsoft already has a head start. If they decide to launch version 2 of hololens, despite the fact that it is still too cumbersome and with too crappy battery life, then Microsoft would be making the same mistake that it always has: launch unrefined products that fail to have an impact on the market only to have apple come along, copy it´s tech and refine it. I believe Microsoft has finally learned to only release consumer products when they are ready to really shine (exactly how they have done with their surface line of products)
Further ahead to who? A few MS fans?..... Or will a gazillion GoogApple fans rejoice?..... Get real. Lol
Remember the Mobile First stategy was not a Windows Mobile First strategy. I actually think they are doing great when it comes to mobile. There has never been this amount of well made Microsoft offerings present on IOS and Android.
I don't think it's the lack of narcissism (i get what you're saying) but before we jump to this conclusion, I think it's the lack of mobile focus. CEO himself mentioned that he'll be focusing on windows 10 first and then mobile... Well "then" hasn't happened (hopefully yet) and now we're in a limbo where its been so quiet on the Microsoft front that people are starting to question its mobile fate.
Microsoft has amazing imagination on the engineering side. It has absolutely no imagination on the consumer marketing side. I honestly wish they fired the US marketing team and kept the Nokia marketing team and let them loose on all of Microsoft's consumer products.
Dude, you said it perfectly.. Well done🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆 Thanks.
this is pretty much totally wrong.
The only part that isn't is the first paragraph. Gates was and is a genius. he's isnt, and never was, a usability genius like Jobs, he's a business genius, and whether pushing PC's or Malaria medication he revolutionizes the industries he's working in. He had his role and it grew MS into the global powerhouse we know it as now. Balmer cemented that and made billions in cash, but didn't have the consumer knack either. Nadella? Unclear at this point. His vision for what microsoft is seems to be quite different from his predecessors. Whether comsumer electronics remain a major part is currently unclear. he may be willing to cede that market and instead go towards backend IT, powering the devices everyone else makes and sells. It's possible he thinks he can compete with google and apple better there, and he's probably right. Even should MS release a hololens it isn't going to sell. Nothing can likely be done about that at this point. It's simply too late, and the consumer mindshare is entirely google and android. "normal guys with common sense" aren't the guys who should be running enormous companies or governments. Not if you want them to survive anyway.
Steve Jobs brought Apple back from the brink of its near destruction, maybe Bill Gates can try again. You are right, "normal guys with common sense" should not be running Companies. You need someone with EXTRAORDINARY SENSE to run a successful company.
I disagree on one statement: "It's simply too late, and the consumer mindshare is entirely google and android." a ferw months before the iPhone was released the consumer mindshare was entirely blackberry (kids and sms) and Nokia... so nothing is ethernal. The current smartphone technology is dead-end technology, MS has well understood that so that's why they do no longer fight that battle..... c-shell, hololens, bots, unified w10 platform it's right in our face but you will not recognize it if you look at it with today's or last year's mindset. The only sad thing is when it comes to marekt their products they are too US-centric (Cortana languages implementation, roll-out Surface Book and Surface Studio in European countries etc.) after all there is about 770 million people living in Europe so hey MS that's not a Mickey Mouse consumer market...
So Microsoft needs a product as revolutionary as the iPhone was in 2007. Can such a device be created with W10?
Actually, you do need another Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, right now Android or I should say GOOGLE is taking over the world as the dominant OS, as I write this on my trusty Chromebook. Larry Page is the new arrogant, narcissistic ruler. So I disagree with you on who should be the LEADER of Microsoft. Someone with common sense will drive it into the ground like it is heading now, along with Tim Cook at Apple. Maybe Elon Musk should take on the leadership role at Microsoft. Unfortunately, nice guys finish last!
Just windows phone NOT MS is falling behind. A simple question, if I say among the three tech giant's which company will fall at the earliest. The order is Google, Apple and then Microsoft. The reason is expansive strategy in every field of technology be it AI, Mixed reality, OS & OEMs, Search Engine, Cloud, Gaming, Console, Surface, patent licencing, MS dynamics, Enterprise services, applications, Office etc. The revenue sharing model is excellent and very nicely distributed among product line. Same is the reason why share prices of MS stocks are all time high. The vision is not diluted even it is coming out more sharply.
Pappale, when you're the richest guy in the world who gave us our favorite operating system, maybe we'll listen to you...for now, not so much LOL
MS problem is that Android has taken the position MS once held and Google will turn Android into a PC OS in the long run and has many advantages in it's corner. MS must manage the decline of Windows but they are not doing a very good job. 1) Windows Store must be turned into a best of Windows Showcase, gets the power user PC apps on board, give free UI redesigns, free promotions whatever it takes to get PC apps on the store, making Windows Cloud is not enough. 2) Premium Games is the one thing MS has and Android does not, drop games from Windows Store it is poorly promoted and designed, instead bring Xbox interface to Win10 and have Xbox Anywhere titles only sold through this portal no exceptions. 3) Have the above games and apps running on Arm, promote Arm systems running these to show that Win apps can run fine on Arm hardware, don't leave it to third parties like Steam. If MS can build up enough of the desktop app store with usable items then just maybe it can squeeze back into the mobile market with phone PC's. Of course Android is coming from the other direction but it's easier for them to build a desktop OS. The big danger is productivity apps if these start appearing on Android then it's game over for Windows. If MS fails then like how MS kicked IBM out of the consumer space, Google will kick MS out of the consumer space, Windows PC's will go full on Apple Mac mode tied to the hardware for those remaining few who need them.
Fortunately for Microsoft, security is NOT one of the advantages Andriod has over it.
Unfortunately for Microsoft, the average consumer doesn't care about security, only that they can easily download and use their favorite apps.
That's a simple case of the good outweighed the bad....
Have to agree. The main problem with Google is that Google will never sign an non-disclosure agreement with any company that requires it because they don't even trust their own products. My company (won't say a name) has been trying to get google to sign one so we can use Chrome as a browser for development purposes but their lawyers shun us away everytime.
@TheZeeMan Omg one of our partner companies tried to do that with Google Apps for Work and they did the same! They switched to Office 365 and Microsoft had no problem signing such legal documents for them. It really shows which company security and privacy matter... it may not matter to unknowing consumers, but it's no reason for them to exploit that. I guess that's how Google makes a lot of their money.
I agree with you! Microsoft needs a new LEADER with an extraordinary total vision to stop them from going under. I just hope it's not too late! Steve Jobs brought Apple back from the brink but now Tim Cook is going to slowly drive it back down. Google is right now the new Microsoft of the 21 Century. You have to hand it to Larry Page, he is the top Guru of successfully running a tech company. He pushed Microsoft right off the Mobile platform. He surpassed iOS too!
And it will be Good Riddance when they go away.
As long as Microsoft does not recognize that smartphones are a key factor in any modern platforms device ecosystem they will fail miserable. The PC is no longer our technology hub, the smartphone is!
Maybe yours, not mine. I still much prefer a laptop to any phone. Phones are still gimped when compared to a full featured laptop or Surface Pro and android is a PHONE os, not a computer OS no matter how many times people like to act like it is.
You missed the point of what he was saying. He said technology hub, and he is right. Everyone has a phone and everyone has it with them all the time. If that is not you, then you are part of a dying breed that will not determine the future of tech anyways. But, from your reference to Surface and laptops, I assume you do have a respect for mobile. Mobile is the future, hence Microsoft's stated strategy of "mobile first". Problem is that has proven to be total BS.
I dont think he is right. The phone is a very convenient device when mobile but I dont think people choose to use a phone if there is a tablet or laptop within reach or better still a PC. The technology hub for me is the cloud and all my devices send and receive content from there. My phone is no more a hub than any of my other computing devices, its just the most useful of them when I am out and about.
Of course people choose to use a phone over tablet or desktop - year 2017 not 1997. Sorry fella.
Well, I am developer and Office 365 admin and sit in front of my PC all day. But at home I don't use my iPad or PC all that much except for some games. I use my phone constantly: - add some groceries to my list
- start streaming netflix on my chromecast on the TV (even if it has apps built in)
- whatsapp messaging
- stream spotify through my chromecast on TV while dining
- setting a timer while cooking
- reading some articles in on my news aggregator
- checking work mail and flagging what I should respond to the next day
- working out upstairs, checking my timer, logging my weight and hearbeat
- dimming the lights
- playing clash royale on the toilet
- videocalling my parents My phone is really "the remote to my life" at home. I also have a bluetooth keyboard that works on iPad and my phone for longer typing. (like this comment) While at work I barely use it and I'm a PC only guy. My partner is an IT manager as well and has the same workflow. Can't remember the last time he booted his laptop at home.
Have you ever been on a university campus where there're PCs almost anywhere? Students are still constantly on their smartphones, unless they're writing a paper or some significantly complex productivity task. People still own PCs, but spend a lot less time on there compared to the time spent on Smartphones. What happens to things that get used minimally? They become obsolete, even in personal relationships
I still own a desktop and a Surface Pro 3 and use them both heavily, but my smartphone is with me always and where ever I go. No piece of kit is as personal as ones smartphone!
No piece of kit is as portable as a smartphone I would argue. But I would still choose to view these posts on a nice large 20 inch screen over a little 5 inch one given the choice.
Reading this on a L650 and loving it.
Looks even better on 27 inches.
That's why people are buying and using 5.7-6.2 inch screens, and who the hell uses a 5 inch??
Umm, Continuum? Or now, Dex?
I just bought an Android 8" tablet. I have a desktop with Windows 10 and Edge which I really like. I have a Lumia 928, which I really like, but I'm slowly giving into the need for apps. I think Windows will rule the desktop with business forever. I think they'll never have a WM phone succeed (I think a full PC on a phone is intersting to very few people for the foreseeable future). I think MS will end up with an MS phone, running Android, but focused on MS stuff (like the Samsung Galaxy 8 MS version, but more MS integration, plus the tile interrface, which I have on my Android tablet). They can sell it, and it helps push their services like Outlook, Cortana and Word, etc. Consumers would buy this, providers migh promote it (customer - hey, I like that Surface phone, and it has the apps I need), and MS would have a mobile presence that would work worldwide.
This was a fair statement as recently as maybe three years ago. It isn’t now. Now, the best version of every new product -- and that’s not an exaggeration, it’s 100% -- is on Mobile or some other non-PC platform. The PC still has lots of best-of-breed applications available only to it, but they are legacy experiences; new experiences are 100% elsewhere. I cannot think of a single new technology, not one, that is being led by the PC. Be it VR, AR, AI, voice UI, electronic medical records, semi- and fully-autonomous vehicles, everything is dominated by tiny little electronic brains attached to big Internet iron. In the enterprise space, Windows has an Android “problem.” In the consumer space, the problem was “solved” a while ago, because Windows is dead as a consumer OS. Not dying. Dead already.
Get on a train and everyone is reading the news on Mobile. And in bed. And in the car.
Yep. something like that. I only use my notebook at home as a vpn server and a plex media server..nothing else. Movies, youtube, browsing: ipad+apple TV, office stuff: ipad pro. all of them on the go: iphone.
I don't think he meant phones in lieu of but in addition to. That is where MS has failed in the past 7 years. They did not capitilize on the early Windows Phone OS's and tried to re-invent the wheel one too many times.
Nice thought, I think that too. Lets forget about Virtual reality, Augmented reality and wearables for a minute. I think wearables, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality won't skyrocket as smartphones did in this decade. Smartphones are the best technology right now and thats what Microsoft should focus on. But as we saw Windows Mobile has big issues, so its time to pickup an OS that doesn't has these issues. Plan B for Satya Nadella should be to clone/fork Android under a Microsoft ecosystem powered by Bing services, Cortana, Office 365, Skype, Groove and Outlook, this will make OEMs interested on making smartphones that have Microsoft's new mobile OS based on Android.
If they forked Android, they wouldn't have access to the Google Play Store. Since that would mean none of the Play Store's applications, why would that be any better than Windows 10 Mobile?
Amazon Kindle tablets are the proof that what I said is legal and doable from technology perspective. Amazon has an appstore that runs Android apps but it's apps and games are stored in Amazons AWS cloud not on GooglePlay datacenters.
It's 100% legal and doable. It'd also be very foolish because it wouldn't give them access to the Play Store and therefore applications. Amazon tried the same thing with their Fire phone and that flopped hard. Also, the Amazon app store is behind Google Play as well. Not only does it not have every apps, most apps are on a different version level than that of the Play Store.
Looks like you haven't entered the Amazon appstore lately, but here it goes Books & Comics (7,925)
Business (10,098)
Communication (4,859)
Customization (11,117)
Education (17,875)
Finance (5,535)
Food & Drink (3,715)
Games (139,607)
Health & Fitness (10,010)
Kids (14,530)
Lifestyle (32,865)
Local (2,334)
Magazines (2,926)
Medical (3,401)
Movies & TV (4,288)
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Weather (721) FireOS since its based on Android is 10 times more popular than Windows Phone or Windows 10 appstore so probably you need to try harder to convince me on why cloning Android is not a good choice for Microsoft. To be honest I don't care, I just know that Microsoft's mobile strategy needs to change and forking Android like Amazon does with their Amazon appstore is much better than what we find today in Windows Mobile.
Bingo, and they are just one flavor of mobile. They will be around for a while. Microsoft is taking it's time on all mobiles right now (warables/car/phones).
They can't do anything without a play flor the car. Their active attack on consumers who drive cars has driven me far away from Microsoft. None of their devices or services can work with any modern car. This is where Apple and Google really shine for me.
@Dusteater, what do you mean? I use my Lumia Icon with my car via Bluetooth -- the touchscreen and voice control in my car (not counting phone display or Cortana) integrate with my Lumia to play music, call contacts, take down ideas in OneNote via speech control. What am I missing that is available in iOS or Android?
Waze...
I can play music via Bluetooth and that is it. The reading of SMS messages doesn't work most of the time, plus when using Messaging Everywhere, it cannot read messages received via Skype, and you have no way to know why Cortana will read some, but not most of your messages. The big difference is that I use my maps all the time, and want that displayed on the car screen. CarPlay and Android Auto can both do that. Microsoft was a member of MirrorLink for years, which was the open platform to connect your phone to your car. Most cars that supported CarPlay and Android Auto aso supported MirrorLink. Microsoft unfortunately decided to cut out people who drive cars and not implement that functiuonality. This was a consious decision on their part to do everything they could to hurt people who drive. Now look at Groove music on iOS. All the 3rd party music apps support CarPlay, except for Groove. Again they are doing all they can to make sure peple driving cars cannot use their services, let alone their devices. With my iPhone, I display my maps on the car screen and play Amazon Prime Music from the screen too. It's very nice, light years ahead of anything Microsoft could even dream about doing in the car. They are just doing everything they can to push drivers away from Microsoft services, and that is the biggest mistake they have ever made in my opinion.
I disagree as well. My 2016 Lincoln, which was clearly oriented toward Android and IOS, does a beautiful job of handling my Microsoft 950. While driving, I only listen to Groove via Bluetooth and find that Cortana has no problem reading SMS's. All the voice commands also seem to work fine and the phone via Bluetooth is near perfect.
@Dusteater, that's a good example. I am not able to use the maps on my phone on my car's screen. That does sound cool. My car has a built in mapping program that I prefer when driving because of the dedicated dial on my dash and other controls that I can use without taking my eyes off the road, but I would agree that it would be nice for the map info to be shared. However, I think unless you have a quote to someone at MS saying they did that to discourage driving (i.e., some misguided environmental move), I think ascribing an anti-driver intent to those changes is pretty ridiculous and unfair. When any software company drops features, it's most likely because they decide it's not generating as much money as it costs to support. I'm a pretty big techie and I didn't even know about those features, so while they do indeed sound like great features, I'd guess they are not very widely used, so MS decided to retask their limited remaining mobile developers to other projects. I would recommend not assigning malicious intent to people's actions just because they are not doing what you want. People usually do what they do, because they think it's the right thing to do, probably not to hurt you. Businesses are even simpler: they do what allows them to grow and generate profits for their shareholders, and that includes dropping making investments in or conducting activities that they conclude are not in their long-term interests.
I have spent plenty of time on the Microsoft Redmond campus and can tell you that most Microsoft employees do not drive. They only take the Microsoft shuttle bus service to work and never leave the general area around campus. I am certain this plays into the lack of car specific features in any of their devices or services. As I mentioned, every 3rd party music streaming service on iOS supports CarPlay, except for Groove. So this is much more broad than just the Windows Mobile team, it applies to all the teams at Microsoft working on a variety of services & apps. It's especially frustrating given how much Microsoft touted Continuum. Why didn't they support MirrorLink in Windows 10 Mobile? They were a phone manufacturing member for years, and yet they never added this basic functionality. For the record, most cars and 3rd party stereos that support CarPlay & Android Auto also supported MirrorLink. They official called it quits with MirrorLink earlier this year though. I don't think it was an environmental reason, just simple ignorance that most Americans drive cars. I can assure you that most Microsoft employees do not drive, and most likely have never driven a car in their life. That's the state of the tech industry in the Redmond area here in WA.
I don't know the statistics, and that may play a role. I have a competing anecdote -- everyone I know who works or worked at Microsoft drives or drove to work (hating the traffic). Keep in mind major product decisions are not made by the developers. Those are made by product managers. I'm not sure at what level something like MirrorLink support would be made, but I'm sure it's above the developer level, but possibly below the Director level.
I disagree on the car point. My 950XL works very well with Uconnect in my Grand Cherokee. In fact, this is probably the very last thing that keeps me from switching to another OS.
My Lumia 950 works better than my iPhone 6S with my car's Bluetooth system. The problem is that the Bluetooth stack on WM is rather buggy so occasionally it does crap out, but this is one of the few places where WM actually shines in general. Granted, Apple and Google's car ecosystems are dramatically improving if you own a car that buys into those systems. But then it's no longer Bluetooth and instead it's some proprietary interop that Microsoft has no hope in getting a piece of until WM is remotely successful.
My Lumia 950XL connects to my 2016 Mazda just as well as my Axon 7... Better, actually...
My Lumia 950 doesn't work well with my 2014 Honda Accord. When someone plugs in an iPhone, the unit opens up and becomes a nice hub for the phone.
As you said, Android is THE focus of developers, ironically even Microsoft. I've been saying for a year they've actually given up on Windows now and their focus is services. And with consumer software being written for all platforms other than Windows, this is the only path forward. It doesn't matter what 'new hardware form factors' Microsoft invents, if it doesn't have SnapChat etc. on it, it's a waste of effort. Sadly they missed just how important mobile was, and that Windows on mobile should have been free much sooner. Now that ship has sailed and appears impossible to sink. Expect to see more Android phones with Microsoft services on them.
This is not completely true. iOS is the focus of developers because iOS users actually pay for apps. Android plays a very close second thought because of sheer marketshare, particularly outside of the US.
Two years ago, this was true. But Android is so much more powerful and flexible than iOS that more and more often the best-of-breed experience is on Android.
Android actually brings in more cash if you combine all the app stores. Apple's App Store is bigger than Google Play, but Android has more app markets than just Google Play!
I believe we are witnessing a shift in consumer use of computing devices. It is no longer necessary for most consumers to have a PC. I see the PC and Windows moving toward being niche products for enterprises and certain aficionados such as gamers. For the rest of the market, Android and iOS are "good enough". The question is whether or not Microsoft will thrive as a company making niche products.
I can certianly see that in my personal and family life. Since I am testing out a new Android phone, I rarely need to log into my desktop or laptop anymore to do anything. I am certianly no poweruser, but all my email, music, photos, movies, documents, etc are all avalible on my phone. If I need a bigger screen, a chromecast usually will work so I can get to my data on a larger screen. It's not perfect for sure, but it fills a lot of my needs on a day to day basis.
Great article as usual Jason! Microsoft needs to restructure rapidly and maybe some high profile members of the boards of directors ask (or force) CEO to reconsider the firms disappointing efforts on mobile.
Microsoft has been terrible at marketing. Their products get no mindshare and then they cancel them because no one is using them. I'd buy a Band 3 today if one was available. It's not though because they never seriously attempted to make it succeed. Mobile feels the same. They had momentum when the 1020 was released. Then they cancelled the successor and stopped marketing. It's been all downhill since then.
the bands were terribly built. i owned multiple 1's and 2's because they just stopped working (in the case of the first 1 it even burned me)
Microsoft's worst trait is their marketing. They should have fired that department a long time ago. Their team seems to get a few interesting ideas, then it moves on from them or drops them entirely, rather than doubling down. It's because of their marketing that the Android and iOS (and macOS to some extent) ecosystems can adopt features late, but pretend like they're revolutionary even when Windows already has them. For example, smartphone-based Optical Image Stabilization was a Lumia feature before any other phone that I can name (possibly excluding some older Nokia phone), yet Apple, Samsung, and HTC (to some extent) get to pretend to be the flag barrer here -- and Apple didn't even include it on their smaller phones! Finally, Microsoft's slow adoption after announcing features is killing them. Both Apple -- and, now, Google -- secretly cultivates their features and then announces them a few months before they're released. On the other hand, Microsoft announces everything a year in advance so that everyone gets excited and then forgets about it come release time because it's old news. In the mean time, their competitors have had the chance to release the best of those features in their own platforms.
You're on point with everything that's wrong with MS marketing dept. I agree they should fire their top marketing people and perhaps recruit someone from, dare I say, Apple. Hopefully, they can learn from Apple how they were able to turn the average consumer into an Apple sheep. I'm no Apple fan, but still I got to hand it to their marketing folks for what they've accomplished with Apple. MS definitely needs more sheep!!!
I get the feeling the Microsoft really doesn't even want to make hardware. They would rather just do software and let third party's take care of the hardware. What they don't seem to understand is that we as consumers would rather they make hardware and like someone else mentioned, they kill things off too soon. I would have upgraded to another Windows phone but I'm a Verizon user. I would have bought a Band 3 but just as I was getting interested in purchasing one they totally killed it off. I would have bought a Surface 4 but they ended the Surface 3 without a replacement and so I went with another brand.
Spot on. I think Nadella will shutdowm all hardware development and ONLY concentrate on services, mainly for iOS and Android. Unfortunately in 5 years time, there will be no Microsoft hardware at all.
Am I missing something or you miss that it is Apple who won the game? Of course not the market share game, but the money game, taking 90-100% of profits of the industry and keeping App Store as the revenue and innovation leader.
Appreciate your taking this on Jason. Worked for MS for a long time, and too long seeing them make the same mistakes Apple and IBM did, (as well as others), that propelled Microsoft in the past. By the way when IBM lost the OS war they retreated to the cloud. I consider these to be the main events leading to the current status quo... -Microsoft turns the PDA into a smartphone, has most share. Not sure it was the first smartphone but I had a Toshiba 2032sp running Windows Mobile in 2003 -Bill said device convergence is the future. Smartphones are surely a device convergence, the company didn’t listen to him. -Steve Balmer dismisses smartphone, (iPhone) -Microsoft delivers Windows mobile 7.5 and subsequently purchases Nokia. There is momentum with the 920 release passing Blackberry. 10% market share is reachable. Microsoft does not sufficiently capitalize on the momentum with either product timely development releases or double down marketing. My 2cents:To regain prominence now there will have to be another paradigm shift there surely will be. I believe it will be AR or Mixed Reality, or whatever it becomes called, (confusing people now). As of now Microsoft leads in the space but they better go all in NOW and with no halfhearted effort. This is going to be very much like an all or nothing.
Microsoft leads on AR/MR? Where can I buy their product?
In honor of the takeover http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Microsoft+Store+Hololens If anyone else doesn't think they lead the space an actual published API https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/mixed-reality I take a little comfort from Rift and Vive running on Windows.
Those are not Microsoft products. They are VR headsets specifically for gaming and are tethered to a PC. Microsoft does not have an AR/VR/MR device available today. Maybe someday with the Hololens, but that is years away. Google/Samsung certainly lead that area. They have actual products in the field today and have for years now. Microsoft has "soon...maybe".
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/hololens/buy
Not a consumer device. Maybe in a couple years it will be relevant. Today it is not.
Not a consumer ready device, expensive, poorly constructed, with no apps!
bleached you asked if they have a product, not a consumer product, and where to buy it. The page I sent you to was for the API. It has libraries for AR/VR/MR published. mariusmuntean you obvisouly don't own one because the build quality is excellent and there is many apps, (150, most demos), at this stage.
Jason, a good article, though, perhaps a tad long. Thank you. I'm slowly beginning to appreciate Microsoft's vision of the future of computing, but, it's still seriously limited, and, it's crippled by the lack of consumer trust in Microsoft. Perhaps one of Microsoft's biggest hurdles to getting Cortana accepted and Windows 10 liked is trust. Microsoft has made decisions that tell us end users that they don't care about our trust. Google, the ubiquitous Google that knows everything about us, is perceived as strong on privacy. Microsoft, which likely knows much less because its search engine is so underused, is distrusted at every step of the way. In Microsoft's case, the privacy destroying nature of the OS destroys trust in the Microsoft brand. Microsoft advertises to us IN THE OPERATING SYSTEM, the piece of software that provides us end users with a safe space, that we ought to be able customize with software and services that require our consent. By integrating advertising into that most sacred of spaces Microsoft is violating an age-old understanding of what the OS is supposed to do. If Microsoft is willing to violate that most sacred of spaces with advertising, it means they're also prepared to use whatever piece of information they collect from us to violate any other aspect of our personal space. To do so without explicit consent is terrible for building trust. I was so disturbed by advertising for Black Friday sales on my lock screen--a place that I want to see nothing that in any way, shape or form could identify me--that I was considering whether it was worth my time to switch to Linux full time. Your article misses one major item in terms of Android's impact. What's important in the Android and iOS story is not on how many devices they're installed on, but, who is using them! It's the youngest computer users who are completely integrated into the world of iOS or Android, and, make no mistake, iOS is as much a part of this story as Android. Microsoft has lost the youth (<25) and seems to be in no position to win them back! This feels exactly like what happened to the once iconic BlackBerry. It had locked up the sort-of-smart phone market before the iPhone and seemed unassailable. Then along came Apple and decimated BlackBerry where it hurt the most. Windows now runs the computers that the next generation's parents and grandparents use. Android and iOS are running the computers they rely upon. Android's ubiquity is a footnote. It's the Android and iOS story that's relevant. Young people become older. Older people start earning the big bucks. When they earn the big bucks people still do what they did when they had less money, only they do it in a more fancy way. Android/iOS users will not suddenly become Windows users because their entire workflow will be built around the mobile world of Android and iOS. That is the danger to Microsoft. It will be death by a thousand cuts, but, it will be death nonetheless. Microsoft will likely remain profitable the same way Apple remained a profitable company, even before the run-away success of the iPhone and iPod. But, it won't be ubiquitous. That ship sailed the moment Microsoft failed to understand Apple's genius (again, it's not Android that's the story but iOS).
Hi Ed thanks for the response and contribution. And geez, you said my piece was long, look at this comment! LOL Anyway J/K. You know I meant to mention the piece about the young people using Android today on phones and chromebooks in school and being trained on these devices for the future. I simply forgot to include it and am kicking myself for that. But i did include a link at the end of the article, to a piece I wrote in 2015 that delves into that precise point titled "Google wants our children": http://www.windowscentral.com/google-wants-our-children Check it out and thanks for the input! :-)
Ed, the new guy,, you're thinking to hard.... Let's make it simple.
... The reason people don't like MS's NEWER products, and services, is because they don't know about them. You can't like what you don't know about.. End of story. See, it's easy.
But, what makes things hard is that MS either doesn't know that, doesn't know what to do about that, or simply doesn't care..... Don't over think this.. This is all just the effects of inaction.
Not only this but the ones that do know about them, and buy them when these devices are released end up with tons of bugs and a mediocre OS software experience. So from this, there is no way they would go out and tell X,Y,Z about them in a good way so X,Y,Z would go then to A,B,C and so on. Remember when SurfaceBook and SP4 were launched? How so many severe problems mainly because of the poor firmware and crappy windows 10?
It's not advertising that causes people to be ignorant of Microsoft's features and products. It's lack of opportunity to use, and, that lack of opportunity to use comes from others (i.e. Apple & Google) being much more successful than you with the under 25 crowd. Android and iOS are posing a major long term existential threat to Microsoft's position as the dominant desktop player since these OSes are where the under 25 computer users are found. Apple's advertising around Macs or iPhones is that of brand awareness, not feature awareness. Google works on a similar philosophy. Google learned from Apple. Google has never engaged in any significant form of feature advertising. They don't spend money building awareness for features in GMail, Google Docs or Google search. When they add new features to their services the change happens without fanfare. Google learned from Apple's success with the Apple Macintosh computer from 1984 to today. The key to the Mac's success was to allow the user to explore the product. Apple's 1980's Macs were double the price of Microsoft DOS-based computers, yet, Macs had a customer loyalty that Microsoft could only dream of, primarily because Macs were designed around a philosophy of discovery. In the case of DOS there was no such thing as discovery. If you didn't read the manual and memorized a short cut or arcane combinations of letters and abbreviations, there was no way you were going to discover that Alt-F12 "saved a file as" or that a line in a .BAT file needed to be modified to add a printer. iOS and Android have taken that philosophy and run with it. They also beat Microsoft to market with a working product, and, as Microsoft and Apple demonstrated, there's only really mind share available for two competitors in the OS space for any product category. In the 1980's Apple won out over Atari and Amega in the premium graphical OS space and Microsoft wiped out Apple, Tandy, and Commodore in the cheap computer space. iOS beating Android to market changed the dynamic somewhat but not the end result. The mobile computing space is dominated by two players, in this case more heavily favouring Apple's premium approach but it's a very similar story to what happened in the 1980's. Microsoft won't go the way of the dodo bird, but, in 15 years they will see Android and iOS eat away a good chunk of their desktop dominance precisely because Apple and Google have captured the under 25 market. Current Microsoft users will remain Microsoft users, but, Microsoft isn't in a position to pick up new users, that's the luxury that Android and iOS have. Ultimately Android will be forced to do what Microsoft is doing with Windows 10, the Windows version to end all Windows versions. iOS has a major advantage in that Apple is the sole provider of hardware. Old hardware loses support, but, by the time old hardware loses support the hardware is almost obsolete anyway (the iPhone 4s I have is soooo slow using modern apps and browsing the modern web that I almost don't care that it no longer receives iOS updates). Android, while ubiquitous is on the cheapest of cheap devices and currently running devices cover Android 4, 5, 6 and even 7. That's a lot of different versions with a lot of different vulnerabilities that remain unprotected. It won't be long before a major spyware or a permanent denial of service attack (e.g. BrickerBot) hits Android where it hurts. Only by forcing common security updates can Android properly protect its users. Microsoft had a fragmented user base of Windows XP, 2003, Vista, 2008, 7, 2012, 8, and 8.1 before it pushed its Windows 10 strategy. (granted there's some duplication in that list). Anyway, I digress. Time to move on.
I stopped reading after your first line.....
.....
Actually, after your first three words.
Very disappointed in MS these days. Just cannot believe that the Windows Mobile 10 platform is not a strategy for growth. I just cannot believe that MS is letting mobile go. It shows the incompetence of the leadership. They have announced that MS has millions of insiders... Well, with such a dedicated audience, a launch of new mobile devices should bring some market share on mobile, not? MS is going down. It can be seen from far.
Sven_Van_de_Velde
Imagine if MS kept building on the "growth" of WP8.1, with care, and continued the release of devices like the 1520, and 930... Pushing WP full steam right up till they were ready to release the "next big thing in mobile"..... Can you imagine where our devices would be today?? Why would MS not want that?🤔🤔🤔
When they have a cost cutting obsessed CEO what do you expect?
Lol.
I think Android will not be a problem for Microsoft, as they are earning in billions from Android Patents. Now, they are getting benefits from their services to Android.
.
Satya doesn't think so, he's making Microsoft an android reseller. The upcoming event may introduce the Microsoft Chromebook; he's already introduced two of the three phones he promised but in the form the GS8 and Mi5....ubiquitous : /
Lol
Become an Android dealer, Satya is showing you, he wants to make Microsoft a laughing stock of the Tech world and everyone thought Elop was an implant when he was at Nokia and working with Microsoft..... Hmm
Didn't have a problem with Elop.. Much better times then.
I guess I'm out of it cause I just cant understand why everyone would give up their privacy for this, Android/gooogle. Installing youtube on android wants permission to sms vs iPhone doesn't allow it. I used windows mobile since the trophy on Verizon and just switched to iPhone when the 6s came out. I don't see going to android anytime soon. I use my phone for banking and paying with apple pay..... security and privacy is extremely important to me. Its like I don't get it or most everybody else don't get it.
You are telling me seriously that Android is a serious OS?
I think to achieve that, it has a long long way to go, if ever.
I've been an Android user since very early 2011... I live in a country that was at a time the most important BlackBerry market, and as most I had quite a few BBs before Androids.... Having said that I never like owning the popular brand just because everyone had it... I had the Motorola Atrix 4G (trying to get one of the most powerful smartphones at the time, and also one of the most versatiles, I also got the Multimedia Dock which was very similar to the Lumia dock)... Then I bought 2 Samsungs Galaxy S3 on a trip before they reach my continent so I could sell them and make a profit, it turns out that I did like the Galaxy better than my aging Atrix so I kept one until a criminal assaulted me and took it from me. At this time I decided I didn't want Samsung again, because I wanted something different with more versatility, which the Galaxy notably lacked... So my 3rd Android device was the Sony Xperia Acro S, which was similar in performance to the Galaxy S3 (maybe a tad slower), but boy, it was versatile.... It was the first waterproof flagship smartphone (other waterproof devices sold as midrangers or low end)... And this Xperia had microHDMI, usb OTG, NFC, included a charging dock, which let me use it as a pseudo-computer with a TV, and it has been the most robust phone I have ever had since my Nokia days... That impression left me with such a good feeling that I upgraded to the Xperia Z3 Compact (I disliked big phones), and to be honest, Sony dropped the ball.... Somewhere along the Z line, the Xperias became pretty but extremely fragile compared to their predecessors... I babied the Z3C and the glass cracked while being inside my pocket, making the digitizer unusable. All of this that I am telling is to make the point that today I am using an older Z1 Compact that I initially bought to my wife, because the Z3C is now practically garbage, and I am lookind around for a new exciting smartphone and to be honest, NOT A SINGLE PHONE EXCITES ME TODAY. Samsung is predictable and arguably the best to have, Apple's iPhone is extremely boring and limiting (I will never go that route), LG doesn't appeal, Sony has quality issues and bad support, and as for the rest I really care very little. After buying a Surface Book (1st gen) back in November 2016 for a project I had, I fell in love with the device... it revived an appealing for Windows, and Laptops in general that I had lost since my first incursion in the smartphone world..... I had been trying to replace my aging Asus Laptop with a versatile smartphone for at least 5 years, but in the end, it was the Surface Book the one that replaced the need to have a Laptop, Tablet and a phone for serious work, gaming and entretainment.... So for the first time in 6 years with Android, the year 2017 was(is?) the year when I actually look forward to Microsoft and hope that they come up with some sort of Surface Phone which I would actually get if it materialize, however rumours seems to point to a different path and since I already have plenty Sony accesories I might stick with them for a little longer, inspite my current concerns...
You predicted that Samsung's flagship would have a 2:1 screen, dedicated assistant button, minimal bezels, no home button and a desktop mode? You must be a psychic!
Not in that particular fashion... but Samsung has always been predictable in trying to implement their redundant services and mainly failing at that (ChatON)... and Bixby will be the same, it is trying to accomplish something that already exist with Google Now, and pushing it harder onto non-techie consumers so that it can get a bit of traction.... but just as ChatON it will fail... No need to be a psychic, Samsung is predictable in the sense that they will go with the latest market trend and push it harder until it sticks or fails...... For instance: Camera MP race.... they incremented until 16MP and then noticed that it was a dumb race and turn around.... Pixel density... they pushed 2K displays in 5" phones which is innecessary. Small bezels... this is the current race and one that I don't want to take a part right now because they approached it by using an unpractical and annoying curved display... which I dislike due to light glares that attract at the edges, and uncomfortable feeling when holding the device. The removal of the home button is something that anyone could forsee for a long time, because google has been pushing it since the Galaxy Nexus and you can't run the "small bezels race" with a big ass button in your phone's chin. My post was not meant to offend any users that disagree with my personal choices, on the contrary, I was trying to make the point that for the first time in years, Microsoft has awaken an interest in me for devices such as the Surface line, and it happens in a moment when we as consumers get a Duopoly of mobile OS with plenty of hardware choices, but none of them truly appeal to me. I want a phone with the craftmanship of the Surface Book that I own (or a Mac for that matter) but with the flexibility of Android OS and its mobile apps... In the 2 weeks after I wrote my post I ended up buying a Sony Xperia XZ (first version) becase it was at a good price and I am currently on a budget. I know is not the best device at anything in particular, but its well balanced device that will suit my needs. As for the psychic part... three years ago I designed a Keyboard with a touch screen strip above the Fn row... My design was done as a 3D model rendered in SolidWorks, but I never saw much potential for it... and the latest MacBook Pro came out last year with something that everyone is familiar now.... so if I were a psychic at least I would have patented it :(
Here it is my 2014 concept that I never saw much of a success.... https://www.facebook.com/3dsgns/posts/166457503884993
Jason... Funny thing is that I just read your comment, and it literally has the same sayings as my second comment below.. So odd. We think just alike.
......
The way you think, and word things, I'm thinking you're a car guy, and read a lot about the auto industry.. We see these same dynamics between auto manufactures. Some are great for decades, then some (like Hyundai/Kia/Genesis) just execute out of thin air, and begin to innovate in design, and gain mindshare..... You should use these analogies in your writing.
There was a fox at Microsofts door a decade ago. They let it in, feed it, stroked it and let it run amok killing all it's chickens, all the while MS looked on and thought it'll eventually give up and go home.
Now that same fox has morphed into a giant ogre of gargantuan proportions consuming everything in it's path, meanwhile MS looks on doing nothing, presuming it will give up and go home.
Or just like David V Goliath, Android gave MS a stone to the forehead in the opening round, from there it was all over.
"As the dominant force in personal computing since the 1980s, the immovable object' that is Windows has been displaced by the 'unstoppable force' that is Android. The troubling part about this for Microsoft is that it took less than ten years for Android to overtake Redmond's multi-decade reign." That can also be the good part for Microsoft. It will only take 10 year to take over Androids dominance on smartphones, if they do it right. But will they do it right? That is the question. I have seen you and many else has given lot's of advice to Microsoft. I don't. I think they have a lot of smart people there to figure out what must be done to be the leader in the smartphone market. I will not be surpriced if Microsoft suddently surprice everyone with something nobody has think about before. Maybe we will se some glimps at \\build this year. Or maybe not this year.
You make some important points, especially in regards to products being at the forefront of user's minds is important. I started thinking about recent Microsoft ads that I've seen. They're usually for enterprise type products like Azure. The typical home user has no interest in Azure or even know what it does. The only other recent ads are for Surface. Where are the other consumer ads? Xbox I don't count because that from a marketing standpoint is very different. There's very little reference to Microsoft in those ads. I don't recall seeing ads for Windows 10 even, a product that bridges all of Microsoft's audiences. Admittedly, advertising is evolving. With things like Netflix, I imagine consumers are seeing fewer and fewer TV ads. So there's another aspect to this as well.
microsoft is a serious problem for microsoft
Without a growing mobile phone global market share, MS is ultimately doomed. The amount of time it takes to become obvious is debatable, but either re-enters the smartphone market with a Surface phone line up of about four phones across a broad range of prices, or they're doomed. It's that simple.
Good read, Jason. It's both interesting and sad to think of Msft as being awesome on one hand that is immediately overshadowed by the very flaws of it on the other hand and vice versa. You know what to convey to the world very clearly. Keep it up, I hope Satya Nadella reads your Warditorials ;)
I disagree.
I don't know about you, but donuts taste like baked goods, whether they're baked or fried.
Disagree With what, James?
Until Microsoft goes mobile and takes it seriously no matter the failures, Apple will be next to overtake it.
The fact that Windows 10 is no where near 1 billion users means that Nadella's Plan A has dramatically failed. The failure of strategy has drug down mobile, wearables, IOT, and UWP with it. Right now the question is, does Nadella have a Plan B that includes consumers?
He most certainly does not.
It's about 500 million. On devices that you know cost the consumer up front. How many Android phones would sell if people had to pay £700 for their latest phone??? Yeah I thought so.
Very few Android devices cost that much. You can get a great Android phone for $300-$400.
Consumers pay $700 for the latest phone in monthly payments just like people who buy computers with credit. You don't have to pay up front for either.
The one billion users was a business case quotum and a marketing trick. People don't move to Windows 10 because if the privacy issues which had given the product a bad reputation. Damaged has been done. I have a Lumia 950xl and just cannot believe that WM10 has not triggered the creation of many mobile devices delivered by partners as was there mobile strategy of MS a few months ago. Every partner left, because they don't see a commitment from MS. Clearly, MS is lead today by an accountant, who just does not have the balls to invest in great products and it's partners. My take on it. MS is making big mistake. The discontinuation of the Lumia 1520 support again is a proof of the incompetence at the MS commercial department. They shouldn't have made such a fuss about it, and just kept on delivering and supporting it. They have added now one unhappy customer who very recently has repaired his Lumia 1520 (new usn port and battery) for 72€, as a present for his son. The phone won't get the creators update.... Thanks Microsoft!
It's a serious problem because someone like me who has had Microsoft in my pocket since they were called Pocket PC, is waiting for my Galaxy S8 (not MS edition) to show up tomorrow. I thought I'd be the one turning out the lights, but Microsoft keeps insulting me and pushing me towards the door, and I know when I'm not welcome. It's important because I'm "all in" with Samsung and mostly out with Microsoft. I got the Gear S3 watch to go with the phone. I'll probably get the Dex dock then when it falls in price a bit. My next tablet will be a Sammy Android. I'll keep Windows as my laptop of choice, but I'll no longer subscribe to Groove and I just renewed Office 365 for maybe the last time.
If I don't see something in the next few weeks at Build, I'll probably be in the same boat. I'm impatiently awaiting my Garmin fenix 5 watch, but am contemplating cancelling that order. I bought that because I wanted a smart/fitness watch that actually looked like a watch and it worked with Windows. Granted it would work with a GS8 phone as well, but I could get a Gear S3 so much cheaper.
I had the Garmin Vivoactive as a Band replacement. I found a "Garmin Certified" refurbished deal on Amazon. OF COURSE, it had trouble syncing with my Lumia 950 and notifications didn't work, so I returned it. That was part of the tornado of events that sent me to the AT&T Store to pre-order the GS8. The final straw for me was when Microsoft announced it was selling the GS8 (MS Edition) at their own stores. Stil seems strange that my Windows device will be demoted to a backup phone and hobby thing that I play with on WiFi at home, but it will have no functioning SIM card. Poetically, Samsung was my first Windows Phone, back in the day and now Samsung is ushering me out.
This ^ I think the Galaxy S8 puts Samsung in very good position as a technology company, even above Google, people who buy Samsung Galaxy S8 don't worry if it has Android or if it has Touchwiz, they just know it has the best technology and its the best gadget in 2017. This is a virtue cycle for both Google and Samsung but not for Microsoft. Another story could be told if Microsoft had cloned/forked Android 3 years ago when Satya Nadella took over and had the vision to start talks with Samsung and have them build a Samsung device every year powered by both Google's Android (supported by Google appstore) and Microsoft's Android Clone (supported by Microsoft appstore) And consumers would have same experience on both devices, since both would support Android apps, the only difference would be that one appstore would be controlled by Google and another by Microsoft.
Samer here. I'm a big Microsoft fan but I'm feeling fairly betrayed as far as Windows Mobile is concerned. My L950 is still fairly unstable and my favorite features like Cortana don't work as well as they did on Windows Phone 8.1. I've given Microsoft far too many years to get it right and tired of being part of the "Cell Phone Beta Test" so I give up. Upgrading to a GS8. Problem of Microsoft is ... do they wanna also loose my XBox Live subscription and my Groove subscription and all the Movie & TV shows I buy? Well its a damd good chance thats gonna happen if I try out Google's services and like them.
Same. Although, I not going to give up my Xbox Live.
Besides my xbox one and my outlook.com email along with onedrive and O365 which I still have until 2018 from several free vouchers, I do not use anything else from MS anymore. Windows 10 is a POS, windows 10 mobile is even worse, apple music and movies are miles ahead groove, and for a plex media server, my old macbook pro does the job so I do not need any SPros. As much as I can I will stay away from anything MS related as long as they continue to treat users like crap and provide mediocre quality.
I see how people keep saying Google Home and Alexa are leaving Cortana without a home. That may be true for some tech enthusiests. But the "normals" still dont have either from what I can gather. And may not see the point either. Many people go, "If I want the weather I have a phone. If I need a question asked I have my phone." Depending on work flows I think its a very valid statement and reason not go get an assistant. I think if Cortana, Alexa, Bixby, any of them, want to really be part of the home in the "now" they will have to provide something else to normal consumers.
It doesn't help that Cortana is slow on the Xbox One. They need to speed up her response times. Too often I have to wait 5 seconds or more for a response, or I get the "Can't connect right now, check back later!" My Xbox is connected to wifi and I have a three band high quality router. There should be no connecting issues. There are no connection issues with any of my other devices. That lack of polish on what is one of Cortana's inroads into the home is embarrassing.
Well, go back and configure it back to XBOX. XBOX turn on. XBOX turn off. XBOX etc... There's no delay at all. I tried using Cortana and it sucked on the XBox so I configured it back to recognize XBOX commands. There's a setting to have it recognize Xbox vs. Cortana.
Well that's exactly the problem with Microsoft stuff. Always you have to configure stuff. Nothing just works optimally.
Take all my upvotes...
Cortana was ok on WP8.1 Ever since this POS windows 10 was launched, Cortana went down with it as well. Last time I've checked my wireless connection, every other device in my house connected to the 2.4GHZ band was reaching 70-80mbps, while the 950 barely reached 25mbps. On the 5GHZ the 950 would not even stay connected for more than 2-3 minutes...so again, windows 10 sucks big time. I keep my xbox one connected via LAN because on wifi it works like crap...so again, thanks MS for this simply pathetic windows 10 OS, no matter the device it is on.
Most-used on which devices? I can't imagine Android being the most popular desktop OS, ever. But yes with mobile devices it will certainly be
Most used OS running. So more android handsets out there than windows pcs. I think its a stupid comparison really. Because they both serve very different markets and work flows. Like you said, Android isnt on desktops. And Windows, sadly imo, isnt on mobile.
Nope, statcounter means internet usage. Yep, some overlap but mostly complementary.
Which is why Microsoft is now trying to stop Chrome OS before it gets any bigger with Windows Cloud
yeah good luck with that when the windows store is a ghost town and devs do not give damn about it and UWP.
Android is leading because no name or not well known Chinese manufacturers are flooding the market with inexpensive tablets/phones with Android. How many people can afford a Surface Pro?? 1 in 50 How many people can afford a made in China tablet with Andorid??? 1 in 5
WTF? You can find tons of cheap Chinese win10 tablets..
With a paltry offering of apps. The app gap IS the problem in the consumer space. That is all.
No,never
I feel the pain. I **wish** I could afford a Surface Pro! I guess, technically, I could...if I gave up food and some bills for a couple of months! :D
I saw a deal on a 64GB SP3 for $299 today. It is well worth that. I love mine.
that's a very good price if it is the Pro not the S3 standard.
Just browsing. Jason got things mixed up.
Most used on devices you can buy 12 for $20
It doesn't matter at the moment. People still use Windows on desktop for every/anything. Android is not build for landscape/big screen so it won't be used as a desktop replacement anytime soon.
How long will it take for Android to work on scaling issue? MS really has a problem with Android gaining markets and venturing in new domains. MS has to have a share in the mobile computing, hopefully Windows Cloud brings that charm
at the moment not, but things are evolving very fast. They need to make decisions which will have huge impact in 5y/10y on the market
That's not true, when I go visit my customers these days I see mostly Macs, very few Windows PC's being used in the tech industry.
Than why is Mac OS still around 7-9% marketshare for the last decade in the desktop os space?
Completely anecdotal. The metrics don't back up your assertion at all. Web developers use MacBooks quite a bit, but they only make up a fraction of the "tech industry" as you put it.
ChromeOS marketshare is growing big in US, which is a developed economy, I even seen reports that ChromeOS is going to overtake MacOS very soon, so Microsoft shouldn't underestimate ChromeOS, specially now that Samsung is building Premium 2 in 1 devices with 128GB SSD, S-Pen support and ARM CPU.
Yes, on the desktop, for now, Windows dominates. The trouble is, people dont use desktops as much any more and will use them less and less. Notice how home automation devices, new IOT devices, basically everything new coming out connects to a phone app, not a PC. Even home automation thats set up in your house doesnt connect via PC.
They dont seem to see it as much of a problem since they are happy to sell android devices in their stores.
If you can't beat'em (yet😉), saturate thier devices with your software so that the Microsoft brand persists as a "personal computing platform" 🙂
http://www.windowscentral.com/if-windows-phone-fails-plan-b
While waiting for the paradigm shift and not stay relevant, is an epic failure. What Satya doing now is bring MS to eat its own saving and not investing in future, even thought keep saying is investing in the future
That kind of goes against the premise of the article, if android is a "problem" for Microsoft the perception that they have surrendered to it (by selling android devices) isnt going to help them solve that problem. The strategy of saturating android with MS software is overshadowed by the fact than Microsoft is now just another android retailer. Not sure thats the kind of branding they're looking for.
That's IF people are going to walk in, in droves to the Microsoft Store to buy these things. That's IF people are going to use Microsoft software and services. This assumes that Android fans are, in significant numbers, also Microsoft fans. I was the biggest Microsoft fan, but I'm getting a (non-Microsoft Edition GS8) I'm not renewing Groove. I just renewed Office 365 for probably the last time. I definitely won't be using add-ons like Cortana. I'll use the 1st party, built-in stuff. I will no longer be using Windows Maps as my new internal debate will be Waze vs Google Maps. I just don't see the sales coming from the Microsoft that they think will come. I went the 0% financing route from AT&T and even IF I was going to put a bunch of MS stuff on there, I would have done it myself.
That could be a good plan - if it worked :) I use 3 MS apps on android: Arrow launcher, Outlook (though with horrible "avatars" and no reading mode) and OneNote (which does not integrate with Arrow :( ). Office apps - they belong to PC. Skype - FB Messenger and Whatsapp are enough. Cortana - does not work where I live, so I can't install it. What benefit would it bring? If MS could make Cortana and AI bots available and functional everywhere, knowning when it was talked to without magic words, giving better results than Bing - that could be something ;) On PC, and currently on phone, it's just easier to use web browser to make a Google search (because it gives better results). But when MS cannot create best desktop applications for W10 (Edge vs Chrome and FireFox, Pictures vs old Windows Photo Viewer (!), Movies & whatever vs Windows Media Player, MPC), how could they compete in android?
Don't they stil get royalties paid for every Android phone sold? If its not that, then its about bringing Microsoft apps to the users
Depends on the device. I think the majority of Android devices with FAT32 support (SD cards) gets them a royalty. Not sure what other parents they claim, but not everyone pays them a royalty for Android.
Boo, Satya made deals with all of them and waved the fees for most.
Microsoft are still getting used to reaching consumers. They have ALOT of work to do
Become laser focused, like the Xbox division. That is what they need for the mobile side of things. They have the vision, they just need the execution.
Totally agree with this, although Xbox One had a bad, bad start. They seem like a confident unit of MS, with Scorpio etc. The damage that was done in the beginning has bee controlled quite quickly for Microsoft. Xbox Division is way more nimble than the rest of MS.
Imagine if they could get someone like Phil Spencer to lead the mobile division? Only good things could happen.
Well, of recent times Microsoft marketing and advertising has been poor. They say they want to be in a certain market but their actions doesn't show it at all. At least when it comes to mobile. Their problem is they can't stay focus enough on something long term and make it work. For example Microsoft had a great product in their Kinect. That type of technology should have turned into something like Alexa long time ago. I really enjoy the Echo dot. Plus the name Alexa comes of the tongue easily. They are too busy trying to figure out what's over the next bend, versus attempting to figure out the here and now.
Microsoft is like a crab in a pot of water with Google gradually turning up the heat. Like with the Window Phone, when Microsoft will realizes they are behind the curb, it will be too late.
Microsoft has one easy way to try to get back into the hearts and minds of consumers. Make all iterations of Windows work best together first. Then offer at least one great hardware product for each version. Finally, leverage all this via Xbox and gaming PCs and make them second to none. Get in the hearts and minds of gamers and not only are they willing to spend the money but they are willing to sing your praises. The biggest thing though is they need to make Microsoft products first at all times. Basically if you drink the Microsoft cool-aid you get the best experience. Apple and Google use that approach with great success.
Not most used OS, but most used for browsing the internet. Pretty big difference!
So mostly non serious child/consumer stuff.
Keep a hold of that IBM machine, partner....
Does the distinction actually matter? It's the computing device that a mjaority of people use as their primary (sometimes only) device.
PCs are being used less and less. Heck, I have 2 desktops at home and rarely use them. Before the Surface line came along, I used iPads for most of my personal computing. Every new device that comes out now connects to your phone, not your PC. The PC as your computing hub is ending. Only creators and heavy business users will use PC - maybe hardcore gamers for a while.
I was a big Microsoft fan, outlook for 20 years but the lack of innovation and especially no apps for the cell phone, i gave android, inbox gsuite a try and realize how much better it is. I just dont see how Microsoft will get back in the game as far as cell phones... That is where the market is going and Microsoft will be left behind... There are many Apple Sheep out there as well, I think it too will lose market share as not everyone wants to use outdated or one size fits all products Apple offers
The biggest issue for me with Microsoft in general is their lack of interest providing services that work in the car. They have been actively working against people who drive cars forever. The reason I left Windows Phone was because of their refusal to support MirrorLink. So now they have their apps on iOS, but refuse to support CarPlay. This is why I have not renewed my subscription and use Amazon Prime for music now. Microsoft doesn't get it, as evidenced by their shuttle bus system in Redmond. I don't think any of their engineers even know how to drive a car. Every day, Microsoft is pushing me away from their devices and their services. Not even Panos Panay gets it with the Surface line. He is so in love with proprietary ports and refuses to adopt USB-C and Thunderbolt 3, makes Surface devices more or less useless. I am pretty disappointed to see what has happened to microsoft over the last couple of years, going in the wrong direction. They are only investing in things that normal people could care less about.
Could NOT care less about.
As a passionate driver, as far as I can tell, I can do everything I want with my phone (Lumia Icon running Windows 10 Creators Update) in my car. I'm not expert at iOS or Android, so I would acknowledge maybe there's even more I could do with one of those. With Bluetooth, my phone is fully integrated with my car. It uses the microphone, dedicated phone speaker, and touchscreen built into the car to talk, play music, and issue any voice commands to my phone. And for custom Windows stuff that weren't pre-built into my car back when it was built, Cortana will take over the car mic and speakers and accept all other commands for weather or traffic checks, taking notes into OneNote, sending text messages or e-mails via voice control, etc. If I'm missing out on anything, I don't know what it could be. Regarding ports, sure including at least one USB-C would be better, but Surface Book and Surface Studio both include USB 3.0 ports, which is certainly more standard than USB-C at this point. USB-C remains a future-oriented port. There are very few devices that use USB-C today. Even devices that support it, like, say the Logitech BRIO 4k camera, still expect the USB-A port at the other end, which is what is included with the Surface line. Similarly, DisplayPort is the main interface for monitors, followed by HDMI. Again, I have no argument that it would be a plus to include Thuderbolt (I agree that would have made them even better systems), but asserting that the system is guilty of abandoning standards in favor of proprietary connectors, because last year's models don't yet include ports to support ports that very, very few people use is just not a rational position. If MS had only included USB-C and Thunderbolt and left out USB-A and DP, especially back when those systems were released, that would have made life harder for users than including the ports they did.
They had system like Apple CarPlay or what was name of it. But again Microsoft did nothing with it, also killing mobile didn't help so car manufacturers skiped on that :/ This moght be as big problem as app gap but even more dangarous for platform because those cars will be driving for years! Also I understand car manufacturers as app dev - they couldn't trust MS that this will be supported and usable after 3-5 years because so far we had to rewrite windows apps so far and few technologies were ditched. On the other side they can be safe with integrated Google and Apple services. This is that famous MS enterprise approach? :/
Man!!! Google knows how to market!
When Satya Nadella said, waiting for the paradigm shift, I think Microsoft will be long death before seeing the shift
I just don't understand the attachment to Android. Every Android device I have used is a buggy, crashy nightmare. My Sony TV is a prime example, I have tried to use the TV's Android interface, but it is so buggy I just ended up running everything on my XBOX instead. Android phones are little better in my experience, but they're cheap, I guess.
Has it ever struck you that a tv is not a smart phone?
It says android in bright colorful letters when it reboots (after it crashes). It runs android apps. Why put it on a TV if it is not suitable for a TV? My XBOX just works. I have used lots of Google services and products and more often than not, they are half-baked at best. But that's OK for Google because... they're an Adware company? I don't know.
That's the same on any smart TV. TV OEM's don't want to spend money on a processor that will actually run a smart OS well. If the TV had Xbox OS with the same paltry specs, that'd be slow as well.
And yet Adroid on my Panasonic TV is rock solid! You may like to try complaining to Sony about their buggy outdated version of Smart TV adroid interface.
Your sample size is way too small. Try a top-flight Android phone, and you'll sing a different tune, I promise.
True that they are mainly useless devices but at least they are pushing those devices, OS and solutions to the market. MS had partner who did all of that very well and they just destroyed it and now is a competitor - Nokia with Android.
Those last worlds "they're cheap" says it all. I have read so many people saying "android lags/android sucks/android is ugly" Then when you go deeper it's always the following:
- their opinion is based on some ancient Android version, the galaxy S2, S3 days
- they compare the fluidness of the latest 900 dollar iPhone with a 180 dollar Android phone
- they used some japanese terrible OEM skinned version without google play services When you use the latestes version of Android on flagship it works and looks very good.
android sucks!
Yet they're kicking ass.
Windows has sucked for 30 years and won. Just because you are better doesn't mean you win....
If that was true it would not be as popular as it is. Noithing that sucks becomes wildly popular with the masses.
It is a lie because Microsoft went to the wrong route and it is the Android route
As far as the personal computer goes, Microsoft has nothing to worry about. Phones, that's a totally story.
The traditional PC market is shrinking. In the consumer space, MS has everything to worry about.
A phone is a personal computer.
I don't agree with this, especially in the long term. A good example is the US education market. Chromebooks now make up 51% of the computing devices sold for education. Apple has 24% and Microsoft is at 23%. Google now has 20 million students using Chromebooks worldwide. This is double the number last year. In fact Chrome books have gone from 2% of the education market in 2012 to 50% in 2016. Google is making a play for the PC space. Chrome book sales eclipsed Mac sales this year. They have a long way to go to unseat Microsoft in both sales and capabilities; but they are progressing far faster in that space than Microsoft is in phones.
ChromeBook sales may surpass Mac sales, but, that only reflects the fact that they're cheap. History has shown that presence in eduction is no recipe for world dominance. Apple is a prime example of that. Apple has had a dominant position in eduction since day one. In the 1980's and early 1990's the Macs were orders of magnitude simpler to use than Microsoft DOS and pre-Windows 95 computers. They were well worth the premium over Windows and DOS-based computers because the teachers could actually use them in the classroom. There were no arcane commands for the teachers to learn which they in turn had to teach to students (while getting the students to use them as tools). This made Macs well suited to education where they were experienced as tools that could get the job done. This dominance in education did not result in a massive boost to Apple's market share when these children and teenagers became adults and had to buy their own computers. Macs dominating in education did not harm Microsoft's market share. Where ChromeBooks have the potential to change things is in future workflows. Future adults may be using Google docs instead of Microsoft Office. Is Google's office suite enough of a reason for Microsoft to tremble? Not likely!
I wasn't trying to say that Microsoft has much to worry about today, but they may in the future. It is very clear though that Google is trying to position their OS to grow in the PC space, and not just education. They have announced the ability to run all android apps on ChromeOS. Which means minimal developer effort to get their apps on a new platform. Long story short, Google is working a lot faster to move into the traditional PC space than Microsoft is moving into the mobile space.
MS is best developer for android and ios
From what I can see on the screenshots, Samsung Dex has far more features than Continuum, looks better and probably runs better. Instead of MS taking this as a serious threat, they even started selling their competitor's phone with "copied my homework but did it properly" feature. Absolutely barbaric.
I am sure Nutella is proud of this...No one cares MS had continuum before. It was/is poorly implemented and was/is missing apps compared to DeX.
Don't forget Groove, a good service nobody knows exists. Seriously Microsoft's marketing team need sacking.
I used Groove until I switched to an iPhone. Groove doesn't support CarPlay because Microsoft devs are lazy. Amazon Prime Music does support CarPlay, so I switched to that. Groove is the only music service that cannot work with Apple CarPlay, which is inexcusable.
It's a shame, I like the platform and rarely have trouble with it but when my 950's up for renewal I'll most likeably be jumping ship and like yourself moving services to.
Groove doesn't even exist on my One Plus. Like you said, Amazon Music is way better. There are many services, and music players which are far superior to Groove.
I'm confused by that. Couldn't you just play Groove with a direct connection to your car via Bluetooth?
I'm sad to be dumping Groove, but they are not as cross platform as they think. I can't use it to play music through my Roku box. It can't put songs on my new Gear S3 watch. I think I'm headed towards Spotify for the exact same money. I even found an app that sends my Groove playlists that I've made over the years, to Spotify.
I liked Groove but there's no way I'm paying one of the most expensive subscriptions out there when there's still no Family Plan available for it. Such a waste
I cancelled my Groove subscription at the end of 2015, and I've used Spotify ever since. It works well for me.
I was thinking of doing the same the other day, even dl Spotify then found out they'd dropped support for WP. I'm now stuck with Groove until I can change my phone in a few months.
Also Groove doesn't support Chromecast on Android (or iOS either). Kind of understandable, I guess, but still limits playback options compared to services like Spotify.
Marketing is not the story. Discovery is. Apple is successful not because of its marketing but because of its products. All Apple's marketing does is build awareness of the overall brand. Once people know that Apple exists, it's up to Apple's products to actually do the hard work of selling themselves. iPods were not heavily marketed. They were not first to market. They were not even the most technologically advanced. But, what they did was that they took a good idea with mediocre implementations, paired it up with SoundJam (iTunes) and made it "just work". No fuss, no mess. You got your music without having to be an expert at downloading from Napster. Then, with the rise of the iTunes store, you got your music legally with no fuss, no mess. Ultimately, the iPod was the gateway drug to Apple's crazy success with the iPhone. Younger people (<25 in the early 2000's) had been captured by the iPod. Apple's genius was recognizing that they had captured the vast majority of younger consumers, and filled that niche with an unassailable product. Then they shrewdly capitalized on that newly acquired brand awareness amongst that demographic to go on to repeat the same thing with the smart phone market. No product marketing required. Only brand awareness! Microsoft won't succeed by marketing Groove--who cares what Groove does? I sure don't. It's just an annoying icon on my Windows 10 laptops that I have to remove much like all the other annoying advertising crap Microsoft now puts in its OS for stupid and irrelevant Microsoft Store apps. Microsoft's achilles heel is that they're not also a hardware company (though, they've recognized that weakness and are working to change it). Because of Apple's run-away success with iOS they're forced to compete with Apple (and, Google to a lesser extent), but, they don't control the hardware. This leaves Microsoft at the mercy of the hardware companies who see little reason to innovate because there's little profit to be made in the hardware business. If you have a good implementation that's not patentable, there's no way you can stop others from doing what you do for less money. PC makers in the rich world have fallen like flies. Unless you're Apple, margins for desktops are razor thin. Unless you're Apple, margins in the smartphone market are non-existent. For many Android handset makers, they simply make Android phones as a loss leader to maintain or build brand awareness. By some estimates Apple earns more than 100% of the profit in the smart phone market. (yes, you read that correctly, over 100% of the profit). In this world, marketing isn't Microsoft's solution. Expanding its mindshare amongst the Android and iOS crowd is. And, given that it's already lost the mobile OS war, it needs to figure out a different way to win back the workflows of the Android and iOS crowd.
Considering the fragile market position of MS in the consumer space it makes a lot of sense to alienate loyal windows mobile users. Ms really does not understand basic sales and marketing rules. Rule no 1 is that its easier and cheaper to keep a customer than to get a new one. In spite of having seriously overpaid marketing folks on board MS continues to break this basic rule. Rather than using their loyal windows mobile users as a foundation for future growth MS does everything in its power to chase them away and aggravate them as much as possible. MS wake up and stop treating your loyal customers like doormats!
I generally defend MS and support their strategies, but on this point, I 100% agree with you. MS had (maybe still has, but it's shrinking fast) a small but dedicated base of loyal, raving fans. That's something to cherish, ESPECIALLY to help launch new products or capabilities. It's hard to believe that MS doesn't have legions of Marketing MBA's, but their violation of this most fundamental precept of sales and marketing sure seems to indicate that they are either incredibly disorganized and can't execute on their marketing plans, they are playing some larger strategy that's not visible to us for which maybe the benefits outweigh these high costs, or they really just don't include any marketing guys in their marketing strategy planning. I hope for the middle explanation, but that seems incredibly unlikely.
Marketing is about brand awareness. Microsoft are confusing the global awareness of 'Windows' with 'Windows mobile'. Just because everyone knows Windows on the desktop, doesn't mean they know about Windows on mobile. Unfortunately, marketing is also about creating awareness of products - and unfortunately, Microsoft doesn't have a consumer product apart from the lacklustre ASUS and Alcatel (which are not available in any meaningful way). They have to announce something in the consumer / business space this year otherwise the 950/950XL users who are coming to the two year point are going to start looking around to replace their phone. The HP Elite X3 is a great phone for those real die-hards who are choosing between an iPhone, Samsung Galaxy/LG G6 and HP Elite X3 but those in the middle ground are probably going to switch to a Oneplus 3T in the midrange or Moto G5 at the lower end where there is no Windows mobile product.
Agreed! Moving to Android doesn't just mean your phone, all your devices, your searches, your cloud, your home....your ecosystem. MS has a LOT to lose.
Maybe if they would take mobile seriously, this wouldn't be a problem. Everyone in my house has Android phones cause it was either that, or expensive iPhones.
Sooner or later, MS shareholders will get nervous ... Company, that does not grow, shrinks.
Actually Microsoft stock have been steadily growing.
Yes I know, but how long will it be growing? MS has only three viable segments - PCs, services and cloud - but only because Google does not focus on them right now.
Really? You should check again: http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/msft
CORRECT - Write offs and layoffs only work in the short term.
You're ignoring the enterprise, where MS is doing quite well.
Not even remotely the same thing. One is a FREE to upgrade MOBILE OS where customers get £700 devices on a contract. The other is a Workstation and Gamestation which customers have to pay up front for. Mobiles as they are now are Meida devices. With free software. PCs are workstations with paid software. You cannot compare the 2. Not even close.
Except, you can. One is used more than the other for a very common task. Also, a majority of Android phones don't cost $700. Some of the best are in the $400 range.
Not one person I know has ever paid for a phone up front. Not one. And no one uses a Phone in place of a pc. Noone. The phone market is volatile to change at anytime. The PC market isn't. I know which company is rather be owning right now. You cant compare a media toy to a Digital canvas. You just can't.
Android will never become dominant OS, because first it must become OS. Comparing Windows and Android is pointless, as they are completely different worlds. Fact that clunky unsecure platform such as Android is running on loads of phones, TV's and other pieces of consumer electronics, doesn't make it competitive in still Windows centric realm.
You're right, currently its no match for Windows. But with changing trends and further evolution and improvement, that might not always be the case.
Clunky and insecure are ways that many folks would have described desktop Windows at one time.
Seems to me that Microsoft treats the consumer market as an after thought. As Ward pointed out in the article, before mobile, Microsoft's success in Enterprise spilled over the consumer market bringing them dominance as a secondary effect. Nowadays, execpt for Xbox, they seems not interested in this market -- and some Xbox owners will even argue they are not interested in gaming too. Too bad, because the lack of a consumer presence nowadays will probably close many doors to Microsoft in the future and they might take the IBM route leaving the consumer market entirely.
Hearing all this really ruins my day. I never cared for Microsoft until they generously offered free upgrades to Windows 10. That hooked me. Couldn't say enough good things to everyone I knew personally. Android always looked like a poor imitation of Apple. I guess it is what it is.
Funny, but I started losing interest in Microsoft when they gave away Win 10. If you have to give away your main product - even going as far as tricking users into installing it - then something is very wrong with you, your product, or both.
Windows 10, when they started to give it free, was in a simply mediocre state, full of bugs, poorly tested. They had to do something to get users onboard, maybe some more free guinea pig testers aka insiders
It might be over for Micropsoft... I ddon't say this lightly for two reasons 1. It is wild prediction and those usually don't come true. 2. I actually like Windows and I really liked my Lumia (till it was stolen).
But - what the hell did they expect? This is the decade of the smartphone. MS had the most well known phone brand when they bought Nokia. They had a great mobile o/s in win 10 mobile. Great looking, potentially powerfull in what it could link up with, easy to use. Unique in design...
So what did they do? Renamed the phone and skrwed the business up and then closed the phone company down. Why the hell did the buy it???? And then they messed the o/s up. And yes it IS messed up because I cannot even do banking on it. In this age. In this the decade of the smart phone.
What's going to happen the day when Google announces an Android pc and laptop o/s that runs on all "intel machines"?
And provides it for free... fully conected to Android mobile.... ?
i completely agree
They bought it because that one company - that was also struggling to keep afloat - accounted for around 90% of their market-share. Meaning if the company suddenly decided to go Android or something, they'd lose that and that was a risk they couldn't afford at that time. Nokia essentially forced them to acquire them, although probably unintentionally.
The fact that Nadella decided to sack all the employees later on and close the factories is regrettable. I'm not saying they should have kept all the factories because that would have been essentially throwing money out the window, but they could have kept a few factories if they wanted to. Messed-up OS: are you talking about the phone or the desktop? Because all that keeps me from "banking" on my devices is the lack of apps for mobile, which I really don't care about, frankly. Also if you want that, take it up with your bank. It's not Microsoft's fault that developers don't make new apps for their platforms or port their existing ones over. It's a cost-centric decision in most cases as the miniscule market-share doesn't justify the cost of developing and maintaining an app for the platform.
It's been a problem. Which is why they're now seemingly more focused on getting their apps noticed in Android.
MS did always have vision, but the whole achieving and a path to the vision being fulfilled has been a huge problem for years. I jumped ship and awaiting a Galaxy S8. They're going to have to show me something amazing in the future to get me back
Me too. Tomorrow is GS8 day!!
Google's domination IS the paradigm shift, or rather the beginning of it. I know some people are saying here that the comparison is stupid. But let's face it, mobiles are with you more than your computer's. You can get ALOT done on it. Now if Android is in the hands of that many people, when Google eventually does make a bigger stride into desktop and laptop computing, they will have an easier job of their mobile users taking up Google's other Chrome OS based devices. Another thing aswell, which is very important. Is that you're going to have generations of kids growing up with Android and Apple devices in the form of mobiles and tablets. And if they find the same kind of user experience in a laptop or desktop form factor they'd likely prefer to do that. Bigger and growing consumer base will attract more developers, which will attract more consumers etc etc. Then cycle is perfect. One can't function without the other. It's what Microsoft couldn't get right with Mobile because they were too damn slow. A f**k up of biblical proportions.
Hmm you said the key thing there is the kids of this generations and their kids of their next. Most of us older folks grew up with microsoft as a household name. My kids have no clue what Microsoft is and never heard of it. They only know Microsoft as Xbox, Word, Excel...etc. MS really needs to start gearing towards the younger generation if they are going to stay afloat. Even my company prefers to run RedHat vs. Windows now for simple things like a web server. In 10 years, realistically I don't even know if people will have Windows servers anymore.
Hope Android crush MS.. from MS fan. Sometimes it good to fall so that we can lift ourselfs up. Apple done that.
Apple did it with the help of Microsoft. If weren't for them Apple would not be around now.
It's short sighted to root for a competitor to fail. With competition, the consumer wins. Without it, you have the equivalent of cable companies in the USA - terrible service because they know they've got you over a barrel.
Google is a tumor to Windows. They attach themselves to every PC in the world and make money while use that to build their own empire. If we could only ban google on every pc the way they don't want their product on windows mobile then everything should peachy. They're large enough to make their own computers anyway right?
Ironically enough, MS gained their monopoly in similar ways back in the day.
Maybe if Microsoft's services weren't non-existent or totally garbage back in 2011, they wouldn't have needed Google's services for their platform.
Its been a good run, but I think MS is done. Windows PCs will stay around for creators and heavy business users, but they'll have to fight Apple for that tiny slice of creators. Everything new and exciting (and profitable) will happen in the mobile world and whatever MS does, no matter how great, will be ignored in favor of whatever the company that makes the OS running the phone in your pocket does. MS will shrink as a company and entrench further into enterprise. Apple is the one that should be really worried. They risk being relagated to the Macs of mobile - tiny marketshare niche devices with a presence only in the US and few other wealthy countries. They have no enterprise to fall back to though...
So Apple would be relegated to the Apple of Mobile? Doubt Apple would mind that, as Macs, despite relative small marker share, still manages to take 65% of Industry profits, as iPhone take 91% of mobile profits.
"MS will shrink as a company and entrench further into enterprise." LOL, that's some retrenchment. They're making money hand over fist in the enterprise, dude, especially with growing cloud services (Azure, Office 365 and the like) along with Windows servers, SQL server, etc. Their reliance on desktop Windows continues to shrink, yet profits are strong. MS as a corporation is NOT shrinking. Do some research before you do your next Carnac imitation.
Well, IF you go MS outside US you will only get half baked services (at best). Cortana is a joke in most countries and no new Windows phones are released. Microsoft even managed to lose the race for Continuum like services...
this is what happens when you change a production OS 5 times, Burying all the developed apps for the old platforms. this is what damaged the Windows Mobile platform. I had few apps developed that I never went back to move over 10 because a lot of work is needed. Better if they had waited and released 10 instead, 7, 7.5, 8, 8.1 I still have the TV AD about the Beta Test Ended during the 7 release :). We paided to be a beta tester.
...and some are stil paying to do so.
Yep...
The major concern here is that PCs are not needed as much as they used to be. Consider that there are more smartphones in the world than there are PCs (consider many housholds may have 1 or 2 PCs, but every person probably has a smartphone), and people generally upgrade phones ~ every 2 years (vs 5+ years for PC upgrade). Now realize that the whole world has access to Android devices, but not everyone has Windows 10 or W10Mobile. Also note that Android updates, carrier updates, manfuatruer updates, and app updates happen regularly. Not so much on Windows. MS had a revolutionary concept with ONe Windws = One Core with universal apps. That concept has yet to surface (no pun intended). All we have seen is more fragmentation. Now there may be Windows 10 Cloud and Windows on ARM comoing, but will these be One Core with shared, universaal apps with the main Windows 10 ecosystem? If not, then Android will still have a leg up. In fact, one could argue that Apple AirPlay works better than this mess. I am still a fan of Windows. I want them to suceed and will continue to throw money at them. I just wish my personal investmates didn't feel like it was in vain considering they discontiued My Sufrace RT, MS Band, and Windows Phone (still exists, but getting as rare as unicorns).
Microsoft needs to target consumers more. Yes, Microsoft is leading with business customers, but it's general consumers that spend more money. Google understands this, Microsoft does not.
I have a good friend that works for Microsoft. I'll let him know to send his resume' over to Google now and beat the rush when Microsoft has to lay everyone off and close the doors for good.
No one is suggesting MS will go bankrupt. They are just in the process of rapidly losing the consumers. The PC in every household was great for MS, but those days are coming to a close and being replaced by a mobile device in every pocket. PCs will continue to exist for heavy business/creative use and lagacy stuff, but most people dont do that kind of stuff. Everything new for most consumers is oriented toward mobile and designed to work with your phone, not your PC.
Windows isn't going away any time soon, Apple has remained despite having a much smaller user base. Android is great for touch and mobile, there is no evidence to suggest it can replace a desktop for productivity any time soon.
I wish you were right, but consider Continuum/Dex. Is there a need to have access to a PC all the time now? Also, how do you explain the popularity of Chromebooks? I can't justify investment in Chromebooks, but they are popular for a reason. MS still has the opportunity. The game is theirs to lose. They just has to get with it and start moving quickly. Releasing things to Insider programs alone isn't enough.
Well many businesses wont be using Android for cad/cam functions any time soon.
There is a huge market!
Apple on the desktop is loosing marketshare against ChromeOS so in a few years Apple Mac OS could get less than 1% global PC marketshare, so saying Apple doesn't has any problems is a falacy. However Apple already has a strategy, the iPad Pro which could probably be Plan B if Mac OS dissapears in the next decade. But Microsoft doesn't has a plan B, and every year PC marketshare is less and less. I'm hoping someone can tell Microsoft to begin an Android Fork ASAP so at least they can attract consumers to mobile smartphones, tablets and other devices that millenials use which come with Android.
IMO Apple is in bigger trouble than MS. MS can fall back on enterprise. They will shrink to a much smaller company, but survive. Apple only has a small (but profitable for now) slice of the mobile world, and most of that is in the US. When phone hardware is fully commoditized, Apple will no longer be able to command such high prices for hardware.
Only Apple makes Apple hardware. They will be ok for quite a while. People will buy those iPhones no matter what.
I dont think it will replace desktops for productivity, but the number of desktops needed for these roles will be greatly diminished when all the casual users move over to a mobile platfrom.
What most people have to understand is that the consumer crowd is very fickle. The majority hold no loyalty to any one product or brand. They will pick what works for them at the time or what is new and trending at the time. Many people complain about the Android platform which you never hear from tech reviewers or those with influence in the in sector. Not to say that the problems that Microsoft is having is not of they own doing. But even with a presence in the space you are essentially push in a corner and forgotten, when you fail to capitalize on your product. This is what has happened Windows Mobile. Many people that I talk to don't know what Windows Mobile is or that Microsoft made phones for that matter. A majority with bias will kill any product or idea, just look at all the products that were good or better the some of the mediocre products that are out there now. We have become a society that settles for mediocrity because it is popular or trending and paying high dollar for it. Nothing against the Android platform, I believe it has helped drive the innovations that we have , but I don't see it becoming a major desktop OS with its many security flaws. Apple wows people with the shine new toy approach while adding nothing new to the mix at the same time charging you and outrageous price for the rehashes they put out every year. Android is winning because of execution, though it is not very polished when it comes out but it's out and in the wild. Something Microsoft can not do or it will be received poorly by the consumer crowd. So brands can get away with things and some can't.
They will pick what works for them at the time or what is new and trending at the time. Or, they pick what is available. I don't know where you live, but last year I visited Kochi, India. My friend took me to a place in the city where there is a street lined with mobile phone shops. There were many stores, and the couple that I visited had shelves full of phones. There were phones from Samsung, Lenovo, Micromax, and many other OEMs. They were virtually all Android. Windows phones and even iPhones were scarce or nonexistant. If someone was visiting that area to buy a phone, what do you think they were going to walk away with?
Yes and no. With computing, the public tends to just buy what everyone else is buying. If it seems like everyone around you has an iPhone, you buy an iPhone.
"Nothing against the Android platform, I believe it has helped drive the innovations that we have , but I don't see it becoming a major desktop OS with its many security flaws. " Way to miss the point. The point being, that "desktop" in the consumer space is in rapid decline. Businesses still use them, and will for a long time. But soon there will be an entire generation who has no idea what a "Windows desktop" is, nor will they have any need for it. Everythng can be done on a phone, or on a tablet at best. Since Windows is nowhere to be found on either of these, where does that leave Microsoft in the consumer space? Yes, I realize there are Windows tablets, but they are very few compared to Apple and Android tablets. BTW, Windows has many security issues of its own, and does just fine on the desktop.
It's all the sharing of apps and marketing each company is putting out into the devices is what's causing issues, if we all kept to ourselves and did our own thing, things may have been different.
Microsoft lost contact with consumers, but is not only Microsoft's fault, is also Intel's fault which cancelled investments on mobile CPU and left Microsoft with expensive Ultrabooks , gaming PC's, AIO expensive PC's but the huge market is dominated by low-range and mid-range Android smartphones which constitute about 85% of all Android market and which price per device is less than $300 If Microsoft wants to compete with Android today, and reach the 1 billion Windows 10 devices, they need to focus on Windows on ARM cheap Cloudbooks for schools and students that want to do work on something better than a Chromebook. Microsoft should act fast, as I saw in the comments above, the next company to beat Microsoft can be Apple with the iPhone.
Android soon will have a Microsoft problem. Microsoft is about to make Linux an integrated part of the Windows OS.
BASH is already there, in form of the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). When you take a closer and deeper look: Linux is ruling the roost. Servers, cloud infrastructures, AI, what not plus IoT and embedded applications
do rely on Linux all over the (market) place, and Linux is getting more dominant every day.
Microsoft is working on having Docker images with Linux run under Windows
(Windows Pro, Windows Server and of course Azure) utilizing Hyper-V.
CSHELL or other methods might help to provide an UX. Run your Docker container on Linux or on Windows - will not matter too much.
We are not there yet, but it will come (as Microsoft has explained).
As Linux is becoming part of Windows, the same may/will happen with Android.
Android will be just one more Docker container. Or something to this effect. Microsoft historically has always been very proficient
when it came to embracing other technologies, concepts and ideas
and make it their own. Watch that space ... ! -
This is their number one failure "Microsoft leans heavily on a marketing strategy where it uses its products to advertise its other products rather than spending massive marketing dollars on TV ads and other marketing." Apple and Samsung ran away with advertising becoming household names. The cost to Microsoft of messing up the Phone and tablet market is going to hurt big, as this article shows, they will have no space in the consumer market. I used Cortana a lot on my Windows Phone, never have used on my PC. Microsoft Who?
Fantastic article. Have read a very good article after long time in WC. This shows the actual position of Microsoft in todays Consumer World. I always barked about advertising strategy of Microsoft. Like here in India google shows TV Ads like there is no tomorrow. But we can't see a single Ad of Microsoft and its any service. Handful of people know about Cortana and that's due to W10 PC not mobile. Those dont know about Cortana take Cortana as just another assistant like google assistant.
Though many of them who knows about Cortana hate Cortana citing its a privacy breaker. But don't care about using android or google or google assistant, which practicallly robs the private infos. The mindshare of people about google is at God level. Whers as people treat Microsoft as a money sucker. Still many people write M$ and refuse to use any of thier product on Mobile. The only heavenly appearance people has in their mind is about MS Office on PC not much in Mobile. Microsoft is going to face very tough situtaion in near future, which has already started in Consumer Space and I think will soon spread to Enterprise market if Microsoft continues to ignore google's steps, not others.
legitimate question, does Microsoft actually have a marketing department? I can't think of the last time I saw a Microsoft ad.
wearables for w10m are still there. My band and band2 are dead, the band2 i got a refund. So what to do? i can tell you, Garmin Fenix 5S, wow its awsume and the w10 and w10m apps are great. Its frightened how android is growing. Agree with the article 👍, nicely put together. You master that like no one else can deduct this.
Looks like Jason recently changed his tune and started saying things that everybody else was saying for the past 2 years or so. Better late than never. It's nice to be a fan but blindness doesn't help anyone.
Just because he's a fan, doesn't mean he's not aware of the problems.
Until recently he was completely unaware. He was the lone island praising Microsoft and its mysterious, non-existent strategy for mobile. He was constantly throwing compliments towards Satya Nadella for his "master plan". But now even for him it seems to be too difficult to defend whatever MS is doing. Did you even follow Jason's articles?
Hi Thorgal, I appreciate you following my work, but you seem to have missed quite a bit. First, my pieces that have an optimisitc tone are by no means an indication that I am unaware of Microsoft's precarious position and the problems it faces. I would argue that it is a keen awarness of those problems that allows to write in great detail and depth about their strategy to address those problems. :-) Furthermore I would like to point you to some of my work dating back to 2015 and forward, when I started writing for WC where I have been critical of Microsoft, identified the strengths of the competition or made references to courses of action that I feel Redmond could have done better. It seems that only articles with a particular tone dominate your recollection where in the following list I have a record of articles that clearly refute your claims. It's OK, your human, you like many techies likely follow a multitude of sites and recalling these pieces may be difficult given the deluge of info you likely consume. I would just caution you in the future, try not to make such absolute statements about an individual or thier work without first verifying the veracity of your opionion. Because if you actually followed my work like you challennge vincent, you would see that you claim, that I am "unaware" of Microsoft's problems is wrong. :-) AI Wars Part II: Watch Out Cortana, Apple May Have Taught Siri a Nasty Left Hook: http://www.windowscentral.com/ai-wars-part-ii Why Apple TV is a threat to Apple's position in the living room: http://www.windowscentral.com/why-apple-tv-threat-xbox-living-room 3.Microsoft How-Old; Could facial recognition turn ugly: http://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-how-old-makes-you-go-hmmm Are low end windows phones hurting Microsoft's smartphone brand: http://www.windowscentral.com/highs-and-lows-part-i-are-low-end-windows-phones-hurting-microsofts-brand 5.My Ode to Windows phone 8: http://www.windowscentral.com/ode-windows-phone-8 The long-term affects of Micrsofts low-end push: http://www.windowscentral.com/long-term-effects-microsoft-low-end-push Help my wife wants to switch from Windows phone to Android: http://www.windowscentral.com/help-my-windows-phone-fan-wife-wants-android-phone 8.Is Microsoft passionate about it's mobile strategy:http://www.windowscentral.com/is-microsoft-passionate-about-its-mobile-strategy Windows Mobile and he enterprise Part I: Out of sight, out of mind Windows Mobile and the enterprise part II: Mobile the key to ecosystem success Windows Mobile and the enterprise part III: A phone in the hand or one that is planned 12 Windows Mobile and the enterprise Part IV: Microsoft, smartphones are personal: http://www.windowscentral.com/windows-mobile-and-enterprise-part-iv-microsoft-needs-take-mobile-personal-smartphones-are-personal 13.Should Microsoft begin marketing Windows mobile to the masses: http://www.windowscentral.com/should-microsoft-begin-marketing-windows-mobile-masses AI, Bots and Canvases Part IV: The war is on; Microsoft is not alone: http://www.windowscentral.com/ais-bots-and-canvases-part-iv-competition-fierce-microsoft-not-alone Smartphones are dead part III: How Microsoft, Apple and Google are preparing for the shift: http://www.windowscentral.com/smartphones-are-dead-part-iii-how-microsoft-apple-and-google-are-preparing-shift 16: This is what has to happen first in order for a Surface phone to succeed: http://www.windowscentral.com/what-has-happen-first-order-surface-phone-succeed The internet of intelligent things: Google, Samsung, Microsoft and the new battlefront: http://www.windowscentral.com/internet-intelligent-things With all the excittemet over Windows o ARM don't forget about Googles Andromeda: http://www.windowscentral.com/all-excitement-over-windows-arm-dont-forget-about-googles-andromeda 19.Is quantum computing a genie we will wish we kept in the bottle: http://www.windowscentral.com/quantum-computing-genie-we-will-wish-we-kept-bottle Apple may be building augmented reality glasses, should Microsoft worry: http://www.windowscentral.com/apple-may-bee-building-augmented-reality-glasses-should-microsoft-worry 21.Will Samsung beat Microsoft to market with an ultimate mobile device: http://www.windowscentral.com/will-samsung-beat-microsoft-market-ultimate-mobile-device Is early 2018 too soon for a Surface phone: http://www.windowscentral.com/game-changer-part-i-2017-or-even-early-2018-too-soon-surface-phone If Microsoft doesn't kill at Build 2017 the Surface phone may be dead on arrival: http://www.windowscentral.com/if-microsoft-doest-kill-build-2017-surface-phone-may-be-dead-arrival Does Microsoft still care about Windows phone loyalists: http://www.windowscentral.com/does-microsoft-care-about-windows-phone-fans With Surface phone will Microsoft learn from past marketing mistakes: http://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-surface-phone-marketing-windows-phones Is the Windows phone fan commnity imploding: http://www.windowscentral.com/windows-phone-fan-community-imploding Why Android is a serious problem for Microsoft: http://www.windowscentral.com/android-serious-problem-microsoft
Jason, thanks for responding. First of all my comment was not about you but merely about your interpretation of situation at Microsoft, so please don't take it personally. Second, I said that you 'were' not 'are' unaware and even that, I admit, was a bit of exaggeration on my side. You DID point to some weaknesses in MS's strategy in the past. However, too often you swiped those weaknesses under a carpet of some master plan than Nadella supposedly had. And your analyses were, in my opinion, overly optimistic and even the articles that you linked above show the shift in your thinking only within the past few months. And especially after WhartonBrooks has revealed their 'disruptive' device I noticed much more pessimistic view of where things go in your articles. Maybe I'm totally wrong and delusional but that's how I see it. So, you can treat this merely as an opinion of one reader. But don't treat this as a critique of your person. Although over time I agreed with you less and less I truly appreciated your articles and there were times that you actually gave me some hope that things were not as bad as they were. It didn't even matter that this hope was unsubstantiated and to say that things are dire at this moment would be an understatement. To clearly state my views about the situation I have to say that Microsoft would need to very soon show a PRODUCT (not an interesting prototype) and back it with the full power of their resources and marketing to be able to survive in the consumer market in long term. Based on their distant and recent history they can't and won't do that so I remain unconvinced about their future. Developers are abandoning their platform en masse. Of course there are some that stayed (me included) but most are done with it and to convince them to come back would be a herculean task now. Not many people are even interested in UWP since in reality it's only for desktop. Mobile, IoT, Xbox, HoloLens are not serious right now and won't be for a very long time if ever. Satya Nadella has a vision when it comes to professional markets but he obviously has no clue how to operate within consumer area. IMHO they will lose this battle and "retrench" to purely enterprise and professional services within 5-10 years.
Hi Thorgal, thanks for the response. You say you've seen a gift in my writing since WhartonBrooks "disruptive tech'😉 I've only written four articles since that WhartonBrooks Exclusive. This is one of the four, Is the Windows phone dan community imploding, WhartonBrooks should target Window phone users - Not fans, and The Surface phone should be a PC and this is how it should be marketed are the other three. I've listed 26 articles of listed here where I've been critical of MS among which, is a a four part series where I condemn their choice to focus Windows Mobile on the enterprise, another where I make an appeal to the company to pull out the stops to get developer support, in If Microsoft doesn't kill at BUILD 2017 a Surface phone is dead on arrival... Those six along with 18 others on that last came before the "WhartonBrooks" threshold you presented🙂 Check them out, you may be surprised.😉
I did read all of them. And my point is not that you didn't voice any criticism, because I already admitted that you did but that your conclusions were unbelievably optimistic and you kept repeating about Nadella's secret (or not so secret) strategy that now it seems never existed. Like I said, maybe I misunderstood your work but that's how I perceived it and judging by comments under your articles it wasn't just me. There are people who agree with you and WANT to see the light at the end of the tunnel and there are people who are more based in reality and judge things not by mysterious, never-truly-voiced strategies but rather by real actions. The second group always voiced certain level of disbelief in the comments. I, like many others, evolved from the first group to the second and it happened long time ago. But all of it is just my opinion and there's really no point in dragging this topic so to end it let me summarize: I read your articles, in my view they used to be waaay too optimistic and more of wishful thinking and now they're more real and you, on the other hand, don't think it was optimism but balanced analysis. So, let's just agree to disagree.
I am a fan. I used to be a huge fan. But I will call it when I see bs. And MS was bs-ing all of us ever since Nadella took over. Now it became very obvious that Satya was right about cloud but in mobile and OS in general made even bigger mistakes than Ballmer.
How's he right about cloud? Google odd the only company with a cloud OS, with MS just supposedly introducing one soon, but is soon too late? Ballmer was on the right track with mobile after flondering it in the early days, but Satya has come in and blew the little momentum they had up immediately. My faith in Satya is zero; his work in the cloud existed prior to him becoming CEO do he should have focused on growing MS in other areas, but instead he's weaken Microsoft in every area they had a Headstart in: Cortana, HoloLens, Continuum, computers etc. Now Samsung with Bixby & SamsungDex along with Google and Apple are all implementing things Microsoft started but didn't finish or care about. I'm starting to believe that if the board doesn't can him, he's going to take Microsoft down the path blackberry took! And oh yeah, I'll be getting the non-Microsoft edition of the GS8; why should i support someone who doesn't support his loyalist
Really liked Windows Phone Central because Windows phone was still relevant then. Now that Windows phones are almost dead, at least until I had changed batteries in my 950xl. The name Windows Central really doesn't fit the substance of the articles anymore. Besides Windows it's becoming more and more about Android, IOS, NVidia, AMD etc...
Should change name again,something like Y'ALL CENTRAL
2023 article title: "how a mobile based OS killed the worlds most famous OS windows after more then 30 years of world domination!!"
As if google has an OS that can rival a desktop PC. Or a Surface tablet.
windows 10 is simply horrible, used on a tablet. Totally not touch optimzed.
Remember when Balmer said that about the iPhone in 2007?
Most used OS worldwide? Wasn't it only for internet use?
Get a grip...on a phone or a tablet, it's not an OS.
Why not? It is controlling the hardware. It is allocating resources to apps. It launches/terminates apps. It handles user input/output. That's what an Operating System does. Is Windows 10 on a tablet no longer an OS? What does the form factor/screen size have to do with anything?
For some reason I just don't trust Google, are least I trust them less than both MS and Apple. I just get the sense that Google is trying to run your life where the others just offer you a choice and you are still in control. Google comes across as wanting to be in control for you, and sadly people are giving up their freedom for some minor conveniences. Just my opinion...
Microsoft is good at screwing customers! WP 6.5, WP7, WP7.8, WP8, W8, W RT, M Kin!
I'm a big fan of Microsoft products, but Microsoft is stupid.
Great article and well educated comments. It looks like a long way to "One Microsoft"... Cloud 1st, mobile 1st? Wait! There can only be one 1st place... Please don't make customer last.
The one billion users was a business case quotum and a marketing trick. People don't move to Windows 10 because if the privacy issues which has given the product a bad reputation. Damage has been done. I have a Lumia 950xl and just cannot believe that WM10 has not triggered the creation of many mobile devices delivered by partners as was the mobile strategy of MS a few months ago. Every partner left, because they don't see a commitment from MS. Clearly, MS is lead today by an accountant, who just does not have the balls to invest in great products and its partners. My take on it. MS is making big mistake. The discontinuation of the Lumia 1520 support again is a proof of the incompetence at the MS commercial department. They shouldn't have made such a fuss about it, and just kept on delivering and supporting it. They have added now one unhappy customer who very recently has repaired his Lumia 1520 (new usb port and battery) for 72€, as a present for his son. The phone won't get the creators update.... Thanks Microsoft!
Me too changed my 1520 battery
"Does Microsoft know how to reach consumers?" I would say they are learning...like you meantioned before Jason, there are lots growing pains in the tech industry, and one big one is Microsofts shift it has been implimenting the past 2 years now.
So why not join Android and Windows 10 together and enjoy what makes both operating systems really great in the same hardware. Here is a crowd fund project trying to do just that.... https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/trinity-smartphone-pc-android#/
I don't get much use out of Cortana or Siri or Google Now or Alexa. In fact I have stopped using all of them because they are not where I want them to be (100 % recognition) and due to privacy concerns. The worst part is using them on different devices. I talk to Cortana on my phone and at the same time she reacts on Xbox One and my laptop. Or on my wive's laptop. That's just annoying. I expect to name them however I please and I expect them to work offline. It's fine by me that they search online, but right now all the voice recognition happens in the cloud. Which is slow and bad (again because of privacy).
"Does Microsoft know how to reach consumers?" Nope. Yeah, Xbox as a brand is a success, but there is still a huge disconnect on how to reach the minds of consumers. Despite all the lessons that should have been learned since Windows Phone 7 made its debut, they are still making the same decisions that helped put them in this hole.
It really is baffling to see the ship stay on the same basic course with only a few deviations that raised our hopes.
is it really a problem? i feel like not to long ago just just announced they were going to sell samsung galaxy 8. plus something like only a fraction of their actual windows handsets getting the creators update. pretty sure they already gave up. and before you troll my troll the lumia 1520 was my favouritest phone before i dropped it and, apparently, zero more exist for purchase.
Where will Microsoft be in five years? I think there is a good chance its relevance will have diminished like so many companies in the past who thought they were too big and too clever to fail.
People tends to forget Microsoft has the biggest profits from Android through Patterns and its services. It is our misconception that Microsoft has a problem with Android.
No, a lot of them have been challenged and it's why MS started doing deals to wave patent royalties for pre-installing software. If so many have already been thrown out more could easily follow if they are challenged. Satya is smart by making deals before they expire anyways.
Yes Android is very popular and as much as I like Microsoft their mobile division sucks and they need to fix it. And that's as far as it goes. Yes Xbox has had cancellations as well as other things but Windows as an OS still has a lot of life. I see many people switching to MAC and like it or they hate it. As long as MS keeps windows alive and they keep doing what they are doing their main part won't fail. Also Its the best place for gaming. Xbox is doing very well other than Crappy leaders in the past. Linux no matter how amazing one person says it is not everyone is buying the penguin BS. And for MAC gaming if you wanna make that a big deal then do it trying to play a 2017 release at anything over low to barely medium settings. And that's why in terms of gaming Windows PC is still on top and all consoles are doing just fine too.
Skype: Fukkup after fukkup, million app versions and still you can't delete conversations and the contact syncing is garbage, oh and the double contacts..
Groove: Why do they even do this? Give the **** up Microsoft! Nobody on the planet uses it or knows of its existence. The music database is limited as hell
Xbox: Losing always to ps4
Mobile: Epic fail, no words.. (alarm toggle STILL takes a second to toggle.. LOOOL)
Desktop: Most focus is on a platform with no future! How stupid can you be??
Office: People only use it because they are forced to. Once google offers something similar it's over for Microsoft.
HoloLens: Epic fail. 2 years later and the thing is still in a dungeon. Google/Apple/fb will take over
Band: Failure, zero marketing
Cortana: After many years still useless around the globe.
Any Microsoft product: Worse experience outside the US
Any Microsoft product: Awful marketing.
I seriously can't comprehend how slow this company is at everything. They don't seem to be able to develop fast enough. Look at something simple like a to-do app. It takes them like 2-3 years to make any use of their wunderlust purchase.
HoloLens is perhaps the biggest joke after mobile. It was the only product that rocked the media worldwide.. Then what did they do? Rofl 2019...
And do they really believe android and ios consumes will install their crap apps? Rofl no. Even if they are good or the best, in the end they will use google now, google docs, chrome, safari, etc. Not Microsoft apps. If this is their plan B, start thinking about plan C LOL! Nutella: Best payed CEO on the planet, worst CEO on the planet. Amazing.
Well, Nutella is good at something :))) Laying off experienced engineers and testers, and replacing them with interns and free insiders :))
Is there anyone at Microsoft reading this? I wish there are😞
Satya Nadella is man without vision. In the future people are going to use Android tablets and PC's. But the main device in the future are mobile phones. Not the laptops or tablets!
Microsoft's total failure in mobile can NOT be overstated. I think Microsoft will be completey gone from the consumer space in 5 years. They have very little there now - a couple (very expensive) tablets and laptops. That's it. Plus a dying phone business. With no phone/mobile strategy at all, they have nothing to offer the current consumer computing marketplace. Windows will become virtually unknown outside of the corporate environment. Yes, there will still be a need for Windows desktops/laptops in the home, but this will continue to decline as phones/tablets get more powerful. The days of every home needing several Windows PCs are over. One, at most, will suffice. Soon there will be an entire generation who has no idea what Windows is, nor will they have any need for it. Windows will become "your father's computer" and will be seen as a dinosaur. Hell, in some ways it already IS a dinosaur. Not that there is anything wrong with any of this. Many MANY companies do just fine catering to the corporate market. The consumer marketplace is a tough nut to crack. But, waiting for the "next big thing" is not going to save them. The "next big thing" already happened, and Microsoft completely missed it.
Your decision for buying any computer product should be based on whether it runs the applications you need. For example would you buy an office computer if it couldn't run MS Office? Would you buy a wserver if it didn't run your accounting systems? Of course you wouldn't. The same applies to your phone buying decisions - does it run the phone apps I need? Unfortunately developers are not supporting Windows 10 on devices with a screen size of 5" or less. So for my PC & notebook the decision is easily Windows 10 but when it comes to my phone the decision is not so easy. For now I still use Windows phone becasue I like it but the lack of apps is the biggest problem and I may have to change unless MS resolve this most basic of issues.
I'm sure these negative articles get a lot of page views and I suspect that will be the only good that comes out of them because if the authors do end up pressuring Microsoft into a response, it won't be what we Microsoft fans want to hear. But do keep the articles coming. Reality is refreshing despite it's bitter taste.
Well the day I traded in my L925 for a Samsung S6 Plus was pretty much the day I left Microsoft I got tired of the "coming soon" lack luster exclusive phones.The I fond out that hey everything on my phone works it's fast and looked good the best part of all was that it wasn't exclusive I didn't have to go to AT&T to have a high end phone. I always used IE but when I bought the Sammy I tried Chrome WHOA it jived right up with my phone.My next PC will not be Microsoft machine. to me It's coming soon all the time all over again. Mind you I was very hot on wp7-wp-8 wp-10 but the later was exclusive so at that point I felt hey they don't care why should I . So I went the other way and I'm very happy that I did. even my phone works with my ride Boom the L925 never did that. Oh well they lost it. by being slow they forgot about the customer. so now they can exclusive all they want.
It will be a cold day in hell before I switch to Google. A big part of MS failure on phone market is thanks to themselves, but after my switch from iPhone 3GS to Samsung Galaxy S2 to finally Lumia 925 I got very fond of Windows OS. Being witness to how Google counteract the platform, I'd say they play a part in Windows Phone never really taking of. With many relying on Googles services there was no way they would switch to Windows even if tempted by the nice Lumia phones. Then there is the whole Google Project Zero team, the lack of privacy etc. etc, so today I hate Google with a passion. Their 'Don't be evil' is bullshit these days. I don't like Apple, but I'd take an iPhone anyday over an Android phone. I like Samsung and wish there would be a Galaxy S8 with Windows 10M. Windows Mobile should have been mature for phones like Note long time ago. With pen and productivity as selling point. Unfortunally Nadella abandoned the platform, at a time where marketshare in Europe was on the rise. That, funny enough despite MS always mainly caring for the US market and treatint the rest of the world like second rank. I see Siri and Google Now supporting a wide range of languages. Cortana not so much. Had Microsoft kept supporting and selling new phones there would still have been a future for a next generation device. There were still being added more new apps to the store than disappeared. That went down the toilet at Build last year when they announced they would have no focus on mobile, only desktop and at the same time stopped producing phones. At that point developers stopped making new apps, and we have all wittnesed the downslide with pulled apps. Fortunately I don't use many apps and can live with the sparse selection still available. I love my tiles and it pains me to go back to boring static icons, so I will probably be among the last, going down with the ship when my Lumia 950 no longer function. My hope is on a future pocket PC with Windows on ARM (Surface device), but MS have to do something NOW sparking interest to their app store on Windows 10. Hopefully these new 'Cloud' devices combined with productivity apps can stop the bleeding Chromebooks are becoming. They need to take the school/education market back. If they lose that and the young peoples minds it is game over. People may hate or make fun of Ballmer, but Nadella put the nail in the coffin for Windows Phone. While Ballmer struggled, at least it was alive, had a niche and was growing in European countries. God this is sad, but I refuse to switch mobile OS until there is no other choice.
Google didn't single out Windows phones. They also didn't create all their apps for WebOS, BBOS, Symbian, Ubuntu Mobile, etc. Microsoft needs to prove the platforms merit before developers support it. Why should Google heavily support a platform with no users? Sales were always very poor. 10% of a couple small European countries selling the cheapest of devices doesn't make a difference. Microsoft and Nokia wouldn't have abandoned it otherwise. Nadella was just stuck with Balmer's failures. The mediocre Windows Phone platform and all of its issues were totally Balmers decisions. The platform was already dead when Nadella took over. He is just taking out the trash.
I feel that Microsoft has no one to blame but itself. The consumer has been hanging by their fingernails for the last few years with no rescue in sight! Whoput Android on the map, not its business sales, I'm sure, Ms just keeps ignoring the little guy, sooo???
Do you really own a Windows phone? Would you mind posting a photo - I have yet to see one.
Is there any app on mobile iOS, Android or Windows Mobile to edit music, imagery and video better than a pc program? No, there is no app at all... PC needed, always.
There are apps to do all that, especially on iOS. Sure, professionals aren't going to be using them, but they are perfectly fine for consumers.
Most average consumers do not need such advanced programs in their daily life.
The fact of the matter is that MS still holds dominence in the PC space, particularly in the business PC space. The fact that most of the world's mouth-breathers are using $50 - $100 Android phones doesn't in and of itself pose a serious threat. I'm not saying all Andorid users are mouth-breathers, but there are a lot of people that don't otherwise touch computers for their work or personal lives who happen to be totting around an Android phone they picked up. These kinds of people are not a threat to the dominance of Windows becasue they aren't going to do much to drive teh Android OS outside of the phone space. I've got a warehouse full of guys that have Andorid phones, but don't own a personal computer. Andorid has succeeded and achieved their numbers growth not from strealing Microsoft's PC market share, but by offering a low cost computing product to people that otherwise wouldn't bother with, did not need or use, or could not afford the investment of dedicated PCs for everyone in their household. Now, we do have a lot of producing pros, rather than consuming masses, who use Android. People that actually use their tech to get work done. But the fact remains that until you can have full software suites running on Android, and more to the point, having those Android-bases devices playing nice on corporate domains with servers, Windows will still dominate.
The Windows PC is still the most versatile platform to date. The success of the Surface line (even stealing Apple stalwarts) is evidence that we're a long way way from writing a eulogy for Windows. MS has what is potentially the most effective and far-reaching unified platform for actually getting stuff done these days, its's already in place in most organizations, and pros and producers know that. Consumers on the other hand may not know or care, and that is where MS - as has been echoed countles times over the years - needs to place a very high importance and skilled focus to their marketing. Windows desktops, tablets, and phones have been playing quite seemlesly together for some time now. The problem is that MS never does a damn thing to point this out and comnmunicate the simplicity and advantages of it to the masses.
Apples - Oranges.
I understand the frustration with Microsoft but putting your services on all devices and os is not a bad idea sure we all wished Microsoft would focus more on windows phone but thats not reality now. i have several windows phones and several android phones and i use ms services across all my devices but i end up with my favorite device all the time an hp elite x3 i always come back to it, or my green lumia 1520 lately ive been buying up old lumias to keep as souvineers.
Microsoft should buy BlueStacks, merge the tech with the Windows core, and then *transparently* offer every Android app through the Windows Store. And get the tech into the Windows Mobile / Windows Phone / Windows 10 on ARM / whatever-you-want-to-call-it platform as well. Android's dominance is, at least in part, attributable to the numbers of apps it has available. If you can't beat-'em, join-'em.
This topic has become a bit of a broken record by now. Yes windows have failed miserably in the mobile space. But Android will not replace windows for the same reason tablets cannot replace PC's. People need PC's to do their jobs, because they need to use a keyboard and a mouse and they need to use the software that only exists on windows.
Most people that use computers for their job, could not do it on a tablet. Accountants, developers, designers, there is a huge list. Gamers will also continue to buy gaming rigs, tablets will never have the power to replace that. The number of people that could do their job on a tablet and use Android instead of Windows is actually quite small. The day will come when a mobile device will be good enough to also be a PC, as Microsoft have done with their windows Phones and docking solution, which may well be the solution for business users. And Android are also doing something similar.
But in order for this to happen, mobile devices will have to stop trying to be as thin as possible and start prioritizing bigger batteries and longer battery life. Already current devices cannot last 1 day even with moderate use, which is useless if you are planning to use it as a PC as well, unless you are going to carry around all your docking/charging equipment. In which case it is no better than a laptop. All the business software people need will also need to get rewritten for Android. Neither of these things is going to happen anytime soon, it will take years until any phone manufacturer will accept that bigger is better.
Always two steps behind, unfortunately. I think the PC side of things is safe for MS, now. However, with Google's huge push into education, in a few years, MS's grip on PCs will be a lot weaker. If they keep playing this game of catch-up with Android, they'll be in serious, serious trouble....more than they already are.
I admit Android i and Apple are strong in smart phones and mobile tablets but the desktop PC and the PC laptop and severs are dominated by Microsoft , Apple and Linux. for years Andriod and Apple IOS have dominated the ARMS CPU world but now that Windows 10 can run on ARMs CPU's. the game will change. Windows devices will now have the benefits of ARMS CPU's give such as longert battery use, thinner designs and built in mobile connectivity , cheaper cost, .Future Window windows 10 mobile smart phones with Windows 10 on ARMS CPU win 32 emulation software wil be able to run Desktop PC programs thus becoming smart phone / pocket pc hybrids. microsoft willnot go out without a good fight
I'm probably not the first one to say this, but in order for MS to succeed, they need to let go of Nadella. Heck, just stick him back in the cloud division, that is basically all he cares about anyway. Aside from a nice scandal regarding gender-equality and the wage-gap name ONE good thing that he's done! One.
He lacks the vision for the future that Gates had, along with his geekery.
He lacks the business sense of Ballmer and his ability to tackle hard decisions.
But hey, he's been with ms for 20+ years and likes cricket, so it must be good, right? All he ever does is repeat his "cloud first" mantra, essentially neglecting the potential MS has. I'm not saying he's the singular cause of all their current problems and roadblocks, but he sure as hell doesn't seem like someone who tries doing something about it.
And sure, you can spew crap about a "category defining device" all you want, but at the end of the day we all know that it's not much but hot air at this point because they have alienated most of their fanbase and all but killed off their userbase in "mobile", essentially creating a second uphill battle for themselves by not only perpetuating the app gap, but also letting go of what little market-share they've had overall (not only in the US, but Europe and South America as well, where they had double digits in certain countries). For that to change, the new "surface phone" has to be durable, reliable, top-notch and affordable. And let's face it: it likely won't check all those boxes, and even if it did, we still don't have snapchat which - to my eternal amusement - is still a dealbreaker to some.
MS has the talent. With good leadership they could still turn this around if they set their minds to it. But Nadella - as capable as he may be when it comes to cloud services and servers - is definitely not the person to lead MS. At least not now. And sure, you don't have to agree, feel free to refute this. I'd be the happiest person on this forum if I realized that he's actually the capable leader we need at this point in time.
I don't know if MSFT has to worry about Andriod, but they are cognizant of where that at, and have been for a while. If you look at the transformation of Windows phone, to Windows mobile, I'd say the ecosystem has taken on more of an Andriod flavor then an iPhone flavor. In fact most people mistake my Lumia 950XL for an Andriod phone. Although Siri has been around longer, "Okay Google" seems to be what MSFT modeled "Hey Cortana" after. There are a lot of similarities to the two ecosystems, yet one seems to be miles ahead of the other. Like so many have mentioned, and MSFT for whatever reason continues to ignore....the marketing element seems to be missing. I remember the smartly constructed Lumia 1020 comercial where you had iPhone and Andriod fans fighting. That's the last comercial I remember. What's even more interesting is that there are comercials that I've never seen on TV, that actually exist. I don't know if MSFT really wants visionaries. It seems like they're content with mectric managers. MSFT's stock has seen a lot of success in recent years. They are still the third largest tech company. We'll see what this years BUILD holds, but I do like how the Cloudbook sounds. MSFT still has the resources to wow the tech world as they did with the Surface Pro 4, Surface book, and Surface Studio....yet again, I had to show my family these products online as they didn't really know what I was talking about. There needs to be a paradigm shift when it comes to advertising for MSFT to really shift the momentum.
The reason they mistake a Windows phone for an Android is because they're both second tier operating systems (bad Seinfeld laughtrack). Seriously though, iPhones are unique. EVERYONE knows an iPhone. If it's not an iPhone then it's got to be an Android, because, well, there just isn't anything other than iPhone for the best and Android for the rest, or is there? As for marketing, it only works if there's a product to push. iOS and Android are so much further ahead than Windows mobile that it's not even funny. If you don't have a good app store you simply can't compete. iOS has the gold standard. Android is a distant second, and, well, is there even an app store for Windows mobile now that all the developers are jumping ship and ceasing to develop their apps for Windows mobile? Marketing can take a mediocre product and put it on top in the face of a much more expensive but better product. Problem for Microsoft is that they have a mediocre product (no apps) and they're as expensive as the better product (i.e. many more apps). In this case I just don't see Microsoft winning, regardless of how much money they blow on advertising. End users don't care about this feature and that feature that Windows mobile may be the only one to have or to have had first. They simply want a device that works, at the lowest cost, or with the highest social status.
This site is becoming Microsoft Negative publicity instead of showing whats going on inside MS campus. They belive that mobile is end of world and hence Google is King. Totally biased site and I agree with fellow peoples here that mant of the reviewers as well as people who comment do not understand MS platform. I already unsubscribed from their newsletter. Another CNET in making.
Sorry fanboy, this site is becoming reality of what's happening with Microsoon these days. Mobile devices are becoming the end of the world, but MS is so dumb they do not realize this, along with the few blind fanboys. Once MS is out of the consumer space, they are toasted...and it's gonna be sooner that you think by the looks. I kinda' wonder how Gates can stand and watch his legacy being destroyed by a vision-less man, how once a company that inspired respect and trust has gone into full embarrassment.
You said they do not show what is going on inside MS campus. You also said people do not understand MS platform. For both those things, you need Microsoft to answer some important questions. If Microsoft is silent on everything, you can't expect others to understand them.
Well you reap what you sow. Cortana is not available in all regions, b) a lacklustre mobile play, c) they want to be on all platforms but don't see the damage it does to their own. d) they left the consumer market as a result enterprise users who are also consumers will push the devices' they are familiar with. They can't solely rely on the desktop and win32 apps to push mind share. That time has long past. Hardly anyone speaks to their PC in contrast everyone is more comfortable speaking to their phone, because it's a transient action - we all speak to people with our phones - albeit brief but it's what people "know". Ballmer had it right, focus on the consumer market and use XES to push product demand. Microsoft can't afford to focus on the enterprise and rely on an expired formula, now aeons old. Microsoft was in a unique position to have it all but if they aren't careful they will lose everything over time. I for one don't want to see that happen. We need market place competition and only Microsoft has the capabilities to do just that....
Nonsense, Nonsense, Nonsense.
Yes Androind is the most successful mobile OS, but that is not a problem for Windows.
The same nonsense was repeatedly surmised by people who were thinking tablets, and the iPad in particular had killed Windows PC... well.. Turns out they couldn't have been more wrong. It doesn't really matter simply because these are entirely different beasts. Android is nowhere near Windows. Not even by a longshot. And it is a very problematic imature OS. It just is supercheap. You are comparing hundreds of millions of already outdated below mediocre less than $90 consumption devices with hundreds of millions ultra powered high end multipurpose productivity devices. Rather unfair comparison for the poor and overhyped Android OS:
@salazka, I beg to differ. It's nonsense to deny a problem exists for Microsoft as a whole (& Apple's Macs). Jason is right to ask the question, and, though he acknowledged the source of Microsoft's problems he did not explicitly state it in his article. Android and iOS are a problem of gigantic proportions for Microsoft because it's today's youth who are using those operating systems. Teenagers and 20-somethingers live their lives through their non-Microsoft OS mobile devices. Yes, they may have a laptop as a secondary computing device that runs Mac OS X or Windows, but, more and more their lives are run through Android or through iOS. In a few years, when they start to earn the big bucks or are in positions to lobby to buy hardware at their workplaces, they will buy desktops that integrate well with their existing use of computing technology. Guess what, those existing usage patterns revolve around Android or iOS, not around Windows or Mac OS X. The only reason you need a desktop operating system in that scenario is so you can access the work you've been doing with your Android or iOS mobile device. And, rather than having to use a piece of software that's not designed to work the same way you work with Android or iOS, they'll simply use desktopified versions of those OSes and the apps they run. In many ways Continuum is a brilliant idea, however, it's being developed by the wrong company. It's Apple or Google who are best positioned to develop Continuum since they own the users that will eventually be seeking a hybrid desktop-device experience. Microsoft dominates in the realm of the cheap desktop, but, those users are not now and never will be clamoring for a mobile option to their desktop workflow patterns. I should know. I'm about as techy as it gets and I'm wholly integrated into the world of the desktop. I also don't see the point of changing my workflow at this point in my professional career (I've got another 20 years before retirement). And, the way I use computers or computing devices has not changed in 20 years so I would be shocked if my habits were to change drastically in the next 20. The only change of note is that I can now tote my computer with me in my pocket. 20 years ago I had pretty much the same access to the web and to computing resources as I do now, but, I would have to sit down at a desktop and login to gain that access. Starting 17 years ago I would've been able to have the same portable experience with Mac OS X, except, instead of carrying my coomputer in my backpocket it would've been in my backpack :). Yes, for us old fogies, computing is unlikely to change. Mac OS X and Windows will remain our bread and butter. But, we're not where the money is to be made (unless you're Apple). It's the millenials where the growth potential lies, and, they're not beholden to any desktop OS. Their OS of choice is Android or iOS and they're as unlikely to change from a mobile usage pattern to a desktop pattern as I was to shift from my desktop first pattern. Microsoft's only hope to capture mobile market share is to be cheaper than Android, but, how that's possible I cannot see since Android is already free. The reason Android is installed on more devices than iOS is not because it's better (it's pretty awful by comparison) but because it runs on super cheap devices. But, those super cheap devices are like a gateway drug to more expensive options, also in the Android fold.
Androids are cool, but ANDROID sux butt!
That 'OK Google' ad was awesome! Not only can the air that on TV...BUT ALL OVER YOUTUBE!! I found the example of translation very useful. I also - if this was tethered to my smart watch I could talk to it if a lot of people were present or the TV is loud. I would use it for my smart home. "OK Google, turn up the heat in 20 minutes" on the way home. Like so many other posters said - MS advertising is TERRIBLE. They kept dawdling on mobile which drove Android to the top. The smartphone IS the PC. The cloud won't save them. Where do you think Google is going to go next? And dominate. But it's not too late. Advertise - and do it well. Get skype on par with Whatsapp. Skype does not have to have a phone number - this is an advantage. Xbox, VR, Cortana - they have all the good stuff! SENIORS!!!! SENIORS!!! SENIORS!!! Go backwards a bit. Market to seniors. Voice recognition, medicine reminders, take blood pressure, auto connect to loved ones and caretakers, send medical data to medical staff so they an monitor or advise. Make tough tablets with with bio id, large text - maybe they bluetooth directly to hearing aids, then their vehicles... You can still target other demographics. But this is a growing one who maybe not be as quickly to adapt to technology. Tech has to adapt to them. MS can do this. And brownie points for helping the elderly. I am still rooting for MS....
Microsoft does need to wake up, i can't do Apple and can't stand Google. So come on Microsoft, let's go!
I know, right? We need a third option. The other two options suck. I hate Apple products and I hate Google the company.
Why so? Whats wrong in Apple and Google products?
I don't have a problem with Apple as a company perse, but I hate iOS. It's so old fashioned and there's no customization whatsoever. Also, no widgets or live tiles. I hate how they want you to do everything their way. There's no way to change the default browser or email client and I hate having to type in a password just to download a free app from the store, I hate that they don't use standard connectors and I hate that you need a Mac to develop apps for their phones. It's all proprietary and not because it's better but because that way they can make more money. It's all designed for Apple to maintain control over everything you do with their products and to lock you into their eco system. I also find it annoying that they're always two steps behind when it comes to innovation and technology; always catching up to the other guys and then watching the faithful oooh and aaah about it as though it's something Apple invented. No NFC, no wireless charging, no removable battery, no expandable memory, still no swype keyboard and until recently the keyboard didn't even differentiate between upper and lower case letters, and yet they're some of the most expensive phones on the market. Google products are much better, but I don't trust the company. I believe they use their dominance to unfairly stifle competition and I also believe that their Google Adwords program is a scam and I've read too many reports about nefarious practices at that company to ignore.
People who like android (and google in general) are people with bad taste.
Agree!
As I've always said, you need a consumer marketing drive first to entice those same consumers (who by strange coincidence), who are decision makers for enterprise. I guess this is a good example of using a 'two-edged sword'. One edge for consumers and one for enterprise, you cannot separate them.
I have a feeling MS has no clue what to do in the consumer space. They've literally never had to try before. Now that they do they've got several major problems to correct but the first one is that Satya Nadella clearly is a business focused individual and has zero clue how to appraoch the consumer end of business. There simply doesn't exist within MS a division that understands the average consumer. Xbox and Windows phone are as close as it got and Windows Phone is toast. Xbox lives on but even that's having it's struggles since they completely and utterly failed to understand their consumers in the early stages. Now that they're facing a lack of premium exlusives and Scorpio sounds like it'll retail as a very premium priced device in a markert full of acceptible cheap alternatives... I think that's going to evenrtually be hooped too. It's becoming a bit sad... Surface devices have the right idea but they're also a premium device out of reach for most consumers. It doesn't help they've had virtually no marketing either since the Surface 3. The rentrenchment strategy made sense, MS needed the time out, but only if MS returned with renewed focus. They didn't. The 950 and 950XL were a clear miss and the start of many other "misses" they've had since. A lot of long term plans are simply not unfolding as expected and that's not a good position to be in. At some point you have to see the wirting on the wall. MS will a dominant force in the deskptop space for some time to come... But at the pace things are going they could very easily lose their consumer desktop share to something else...
From a technical standpoint i would say windows is still better than android. Only issue is apps and lack of oem support. What ms should do is to create tools which make it damn easy to install windows on android tablets and phones atleast for ones from xiaomi, one plus etc and provide incentives to users who install windows on phones... like say one year office 365 for free . Or give bing reward points
Another option is to give incentive to manufacturers.. like a percentage of sale from appstore sale if device used is from that manufacturer.
They need to consider phones like pcs and provide regular updates and security patches.. android is totally fragmented and will self explode one day....
this isnt about better or worse. the average consumer is not looking at technology from a "techincal standpoint". ironic, yes.
More than Android, Microsoft is microsoft's problem, Based on the comments on the article abt authenticator no password feature on IOS/Android, I'm surprise that our community didnt pick it up. This is what MS has to say abt windows. https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/enterprisemobility/2017/04/18/no-pas... [Update 4/18/17 3:08pm Pacific: A few people have asked if this works with Windows Phone version Microsoft Authenticator. Windows Phone makes up <5% of the active users of our Authenticator Apps so we have prioritized getting this working with iOS and Android for now. If/When it becomes a big success on those high scale platforms, we will evaluate adding support for Windows Phone.] what a joke, first it kills WP/W10M and then kicks the dead body and makes fun of it like this.
Didn't noticed their explanation :))) yeah, it's simply pathetic. :))) When even MS is making fun of their own failure, can anyone expect ANY OEM or developer to take MS seriously? This is the kind of self irony that is not funny for them, and does not look funny at all. They simply continue to embarrass themselves over and over again :)) For once I am starting to fell ashamed of owning an xbox one, despite the fact that I have no issues with it. But just because it comes from such a company it begins making me feel sick
And why didn't WindowsCentral report this?
Well done Jason. MS didn't think Google was a threat for years. Google search spread like wildfire back when Microsoft search was a dominate player but giving results not many wanted. Google was cleaning up results and listening to people new to the internet. What did MS do? Not a lot MS search continued to be garbage then along came Chrome. Since Google search had already proven itself, digging out information from around the world, Chrome, as buggy as it was, had already proven itself. MS allowed Chrome to flourish on every Windows deployment and Internet Explorer was used only once, that was to download the Chrome browser. Even with this, Microsoft didn't care. The OS was still necessary for Google to make money until Eric Schmidt left Apple's Board of Directors. Shortly after that, Android was born and looked and behaved like Apple’s OS but it had the freedom of Windows Mobile. The rest is history and where we find ourselves today. Personally, I think this Windows Phone "wake" has lasted longer than necessary and its time we refocus on where there is a future. MS needs to build a KICK BUTT phone on top the Android OS and get back in game. Build and test a launcher that looks exactly like our Windows Phone. MS can use whatever it needs to because it owns the technology. Just do it. Google has and had no issue being a parasite on the Windows OS, time to return the favor. And if at some point, the mobile product can prove its worth, branch on out. But this is the longest wake in history and one day, we need bury this and show some the name means something
"Since Google search had already proven itself, digging out information from around the world, Chrome, as buggy as it was, had already proven itself. MS allowed Chrome to flourish on every Windows deployment and Internet Explorer was used only once, that was to download the Chrome browser. " Your missing a very important point. Back in those days Microsoft was shackled and chained as the powers that be decided that they were not allowed to monopolize their own OS and space and instead were forced to let other players in. Unthinkable now with both Google and Apple actually excersizing more control and monopoly over their space than Microsoft ever did. While there is much to be said about Microsoft making mistakes and failing all over, Google has always actively and aggrively blocked access to their services and product for and through Windows Phone and never ever has there been any sort of accusations or control of the situation by government or anti-trust organisations to the level that happened to Microsoft. One can only wonder why. Android is actually not really an OS now is it? It's basically a glorofied applauncher built on a linux kernel. It has no real capabilities to scale properly even to a tablet, let alone desktop, is not intended nor designed to be use in such environments, does not even have close to the capabilities and stability Windows has and don't even think of using multiple screens. It's an 'OS' designed for smal touchscreens running one app at a time. Are we really considering every $25 phone out there as being equel to a Windows install?? This is just sillyness and Windows Central si making every effort to make it relevant only to allow themselves to start covering Android more. We've seen this before and it will lead to the end of the site..
My current employer uses Google infrastructure ( Gmail, drive,docs,sheets). This would have been unthinkable 10years ago. Just goes to show how pervasive Google have become. Cost in comparison to Exchange, SharePoint, office license s was key factor. The Google products are far inferior in terms of functionality but they have nailed the ease of share-ability where users can work on the same doc with full display of audit. MS need to listen to users more. Insiders is great, but they don't seem to act upon the main user gripes. Google equivalent of office is like going back 10 years , but MS are treading water. This news item is no surprise.
Will someone please explain to microsoft that they have the Cortana Character's IP. How is she not the face of Microsoft Marketing by now?
Totally Microsoft fault for the condition of windows phone nor they are serious about it
Easy to take mindshare and market shares when you have a monopoly over the information path to consumers. Just force your ads on them. It doesn't matter what they are really interested in, just show google services... Manipulate search results and put their services ahead. Its not like they haven't gotten caught.
They don't have a monopoly dummy! You don't need to use any google services....
They have several de facto monopolies... Please, keep up.
I was watching a Colorado Rockies game tonight on TV. The only ad I saw in there and really anywhere is for the Microsoft Cloud. Sure it shows a SP4. But, all I see anymore advertised is for the Cloud. Nadella is an engineer. Maybe he micromanages everything. I don't know. But, he is not a salesman and MS needs PR and marketers right now. If they have a long term strategy then they need to get that out. Even if they tell us that they are working on a game changing product. Let the marketplace know. They wouldn't need to be specific. Just let consumers know that something big is coming.
This is really a non issue and the two are apples and oranges.. Come back to me when Android is capable of replacing the desktop for anything but basic browsing or paying a game and is capable fo doing it across multiple screen with diffent content on each. Windows Central should just close doors I guess as it is becoming apparent quickly they want to hop in to bed with Android central like yesterday.
These are different products aimed at different markets. Android is a phone / tablet OS (but most successful as a phone OS). As such, it's primarily used for consumption. Windows is a desktop OS and is used for creation. Android is based on Linux. The logical progression is to put Android on the desktop. That hasn't worked well for previous Linux dist because these platforms are aimed at different users. The average Android user probably won't have or want a desktop PC so whether Android runs on the desktop is a moot point. Mobile apps won't work on the desktop - they are aimed at people who are out and about. There is little point putting Pokémon Go on a desktop. Of the two current popular phone O/S out there - Android is free and runs on low cost hardware. iOS runs on proprietary expensive Apple hardware only. It's no wonder Android has the market share (but not the profit share). It's also worth pointing out that Android is Google's data collection tool. They already have Chrome on the desktop to fulfill that task so there's little incentive to move forward unless an OEM attempts it - like Samsung's Dex. How many people will buy monitors to do this though. Not many I suspect in the teen / 20's bracket. Most older users will probably have a PC and an iPhone and leave the kiddie OS for the kids.
@vzzbuckz Android may now be a mobile OS and Windows a desktop OS but what you're missing is that Android and iOS (this is a story of both OSes) have captured the <30 crowd. Everybody who is under the age of 30 (and likely 90%+ under the age of 50) use either iOS or Android on an hourly basis! Eventually this usage is going to seep into their daily paid workflow and when that does it is going to pose a serious challenge to Microsoft's dominance in the sphere of cheap desktop computers. ChromeBooks and running Android apps in Chrome OS are just the tip of the iceberg. They're mediocre implementations of what will eventually prove to be a major threat to Microsoft's Windows OS. Does anyone use a BlackBerry? They once owned the smart phone market. Remember the Diamond Rio, Creative Nomad, Archos Jukebox and the SanDisk? They were all MP3/portable music players that were to market before the iPod. Great ideas but mediocre implementations. The iPod took what were uninspiring products and produced something that destroyed the CD industry. While ChromeBooks and Android apps on the desktop are mediocre implementations of a good idea, you definetly will see the line between desktop and mobile device blur, and, it won't be Continuum picking up the spoils. The <30 crowd is already heavily invested in Android or iOS. They're going to look for a way to integrate their current workflows with the desktop experience, and, adopting Continuum won't be the way forward for them (unless Microsoft puts Continuum on top of the iOS/Android experience). You belittle the "teen / 20's bracket" but don't forget that that bracket will the 20's / 30's bracket in 10 years and that they'll then have a lot more money to spend and be inifluencing how business operate at that time.
Considering what the current smartphones can do, an average consumer doesn't need a PC. That's the direct impact on future of windows PC. If android keeps getting more powerful (to facilitate great gaming and video editing stuff), Windows 10 will lose more market share as the demand for PC will reduce to being only in the enterprise segment.
All it takes is a paradigm shift again. Just like the smartphone rose to prominence, some future device can do the same. In fact, Business Insider just wrote an article about how Zuckerberg and Facebook is going to kill the smartphone. And they're going to do this through AR and VR. And a lot of what they wrote makes sense. That you can wear a pair of glasses with a built-in computer and being able to project and process all the information that a phone can do. That FB is building a platform that is independent of any given smartphone platform. FB has always tried to be platform agnostic because they don't want to be beholden to anybody else's platform. Right now, all the titans are rushing to find this new paradigm. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, etc. are piling tons of money into VR and AR and at other possible paradigm shifts. You'd be surprised how fashion and trends happen. I have met a number of friends and people who wear frames that don't have any lenses. So bizarre to me but a fashion trend.
I don't even stress out thinking of this. Anyway, others will do better that MS as usual, because MS always starts something half baked and abandons it.
Even if there is a paradigm shift, the focus of the companies has to be consumers. Microsoft is focusing only on enterprises and ignoring the present consumers. Also, I'm damn sure very other company will do a better job after the paradigm shift than Microsoft.
In Windows 10, Windowscentral.com "just works" with Google Chrome but has problems with Microsoft Edge. Am I the only one who sees irony in this situation. In Google Chrome, clicking on a link from a "New Comment" notification email results in me being taken directly to the comment. In Edge, all that happens is the article gets loaded. Shouldn't windowscentral.com work better on Microsoft WINDOWS' own flagship browser than on that of one of its main rivals?
haha that's like expecting their mobile apps to work better on their own mobile OS. seriously, everything MS makes works better on a competing platform.
Search anything on Bing and then try to open links from the suggestions. Check this on Chrome vs Edge and same kind of pain. It looks funny when you see a message on top of Chrome page saying 'Edge works better with Windows 10"
Improve
Guys, I think U didn't catch the main Jason's message. MS has Great visions, innovative ideas, great initiatives, but.... MS stops listen to it's customers. They forget that there is a market and they have to fight for being chosen. Be sincere, how many times you suggested something to MS to improve their services or products and how many times you got a sight that your feed back was noticed! Android is an open platform, if your request are not listen, you can go to another developer or even set your own platform. MS guys believe they are moving the world, but forget that world is made by consumers and consumers choose who will be the moving force. There is a deep symbolism in the purchase of Nokia, one upon a time leading brand in mobile universe, but today only a reminder of past glory.
I never thought I would say this but... Jason, since you removed the pink glasses, i love reading your articles. A very good analysis of the state of computing today without unrealistic "Windows/UWP will change the game", which it won't anymore at this point.
If Microsoft stops friggin up marketing campaigns (read: everything except Xbox) they would have a chance. However, they seem to hire inept, creatively bankrupt fools for this. Anyone remember the first Surface ads? Whoever thought people, very diverse of course with hipster hairdos, dancing and clacking a keyboard on a desk was a good way to sell a brand new product? I personally promised to never buy one *BECAUSE* of those ads, and I didn't until years later with the SP3. Their marketing reminds me of Commodore back in the late 80's when they started to die. No strategy, terrible communications, cancelling good products and not communicating well.
Marketing only gets you so far. At the end of the day, you need a good product. Microsoft's failures are do to poor products not a lack of marketing. If Microsoft wants to be successful, first they need killer products. It is no longer 2006. Mediocre, unmarketable products are not going to do it.
Worst mistake was to put an engineer in charge of Microsoft i stead of a salesman. I was excited when he first came onboard. But in hindsight it was a massive mistake. They had the war chest to play the long game. To give up mobile is to give up the future. Massive massive mistake. Pit the dude who is in charge of Xbox up there, at least he has visions and seems to execute.
My 950xl just shat itself (constant random reboots). New battery didn't help. I just preordered a galaxy s8. I never thought it would happen but I'm here. It's a great looking phone and MS just don't care enough about their mobile OS for me to bother with repairing the 950. Microsoft does have a very real android problem...I see that now. Lol
If you ordered a battery third party, which you most likely had to do, chances are it was a fake or clone from (insert china place here) ... I had to go through 2 of the fake ones before getting the actual OEM which worked
Thats another thing where MS lacks. MS Store online and one near my town had no replacement battery for 950 when it was needed. Its not that old phone for which there is not good support.
But i love my lumia.how about this ..
I like that, I love my L930 too... Just don't want to see Android / Google (as a whole) rise to the top of the world, there should be competition at all times especially by the world's foremost closed source OS maker, Msft. But I just don't see Msft (as a formidable Tech Giant) making bold decisions.
Everyone on this site loves their Lumia. But unfortunately practically there is nothing new there in WP since its updated to 10. Cortana and Continum like features never got up to the mark and no good marketting around it. As someone said already, Hololense is another such example. MS might be good in software, but not with ideation towards a better future.
Aren't they giving up Android for Chome OS? And isn't this like comparing Apples to Oranges? A mobile OS vs. a computer OS? They. Are. Not. The. Same.
Piracy. The problem is piracy. Windows became the dominant desktop OS "thanks" to piracy. But then, 4 things happened: First, the online activation made difficult to obtain pirated copies of Windows; second, everybody got a smartphone; third, Android became the dominant mobile OS; Fourth, MS had no idea how to make Windows appealing in the new smartphone world. And, how Android became so dominant? because of piracy!!! Android is free and open source, so any manufacturer can create cheap Android devices. But without the apps, the OS itself is kind of useless, then piracy made the apps available to everyone. Does it hurt developers? yes. That's why they moved to ads-supported apps, in-app purchases, etc, in order to make profit out of free-to-download apps, while Google is making money from collecting and selling user's data. Is piracy still a problem? somehow, yes. But Google found a way to take advantage of it, and when MS tried to adopt the same money-making model of Google (free Windows 10), it was too late. What we have now is a mature and polish Android OS, capable of bringing a near-desktop-like experience in the palm of your hand, versus a flimsy desktop Windows 10 OS, with all the hit-and-miss changes and buggy updates that make it feel like in an eternal beta stage.
"flimsy desktop Windows 10 OS" utter nonsense!
"With unrelenting momentum and pervasive ubiquity, what might the next ten years yield for Google and Android as Microsoft struggles to make Windows relevant in the modern age of mobile computing?" Answer: Nothing. If you have climbed the highest mountain (Mt Everest) what's next? Google has succeeded in putting android devices in the hands of the poor and that's it. Google has embarked on so many projects that have failed and were abandoned/aborted in the process. What might the next ten years yield? Nothing! MS will simply try to close the gap and stay relevant, that's all. In the 80s people mainly used their PCs to surf the internet, which was not affordable by the poor then. Nowadays, the poor can simply buy a cheap android phone, also purchase/subscribe to cheap cellular data to surf the net. The margine between android and MS is very slim i.e. android is 37.93% while MS is 37.91%. Statcounter has shown that a large percentage of people that use their android mobile device to surf the internet are Africans and Asians. (Please check out this link below) http://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share#monthly-201703-201703-map
"In the 80s people mainly used their PCs to surf the internet, which was not affordable by the poor then. Nowadays, the poor can simply buy a cheap android phone, also purchase/subscribe to cheap cellular data to surf the net." Umm nope. Very few people would access bulletin boards like compuserv and prodigy. The modern internet did not appear in peoples homes until the early 90's, If you used a PC prior to that it most likely at work. Even in the early 90's the cost was so high most did not use or own a computer. Google also has not put Android devices in the hands of the poor. Phone makers have done that. Android phones cost just as much as Apple phones. If anything I would say Windows phones were aimed at the poor. Most ran sub par hardware and they did not have a true hardware flagship phone until the 930 and the HTC M8 which both had snapdrsgon 801 processors and a 1080P screen, prior to that they ran qualcomm 200 and 400 SoC and 720 or 480 screens when everyone else was already doing 1080P.
The clear threat is if companies start building their desktop apps for Android and or Google allows .Exe apps on Android desktop world than windows will slowly crumble. I could see more multitasking and windows related features being added in and companies lining up to skin the hell out of it and make their own versions like many do with Linux
Android in its current form will never be accepted by businesses as its too insecure, its like Windows XP, anybody and everybody hacks Android, whereas Windows offers a lot of security these days, weird how things change.
You can write an entire article on this alone: "Does Microsoft know how to reach consumers?" I'm about done with them on the consumer end because I've bet let down so many times: Zune, Windows Phone, Hololens (where is this thing they hyped up so much as a consumer device), Windows Media Center, Windows Essentals (where are UWP versions of Movie Maker and a "Garage Band" typoe app")...and to a minor extent...Bing Food and Drink (a fantastic app where I lost all my manual entries), Hubs and Rooms in Windows Phone, Blink/So.Cl, Would love to see a good article about promising consumer devices, apps and other Microsoft projects us fans embraced and then lost.
Well well.. Looks like Windows Central has at last woken up to their journalistic responsibilities; instead of trying to all too occasionally insult us with their flaccid patronisation on M$'s behalf. Good to see you starting to tell truth to M$; I know its somewhat painful because its a bit like biting the proverbial hand that feeds you. The company needs to split itself up into a purely software arm on one hand and a service and product (product development, scheduling, market research, sales and marketing and hardware etc.) delivery arm on the other. Again they are basically great software company that know absolutely nothing about anything else; admit it, Nadella is no Steve Jobs and he has no business running the company; the cloud division maybe, but nothing else. Just make sure Redmond gets that message too, if you dare..
Well well.. Looks like Windows Central has at last woken up to their journalistic responsibilities; instead of trying to all too occasionally insult us with their flaccid patronisation on M$'s behalf. Good to see you starting to tell truth to M$; I know its somewhat painful because its a bit like biting the proverbial hand that feeds you. The company needs to split itself up into a purely software arm on one hand and a service and product (product development, scheduling, market research, sales and marketing and hardware etc.) delivery arm on the other. Again they are basically great software company that know absolutely nothing about anything else; admit it, Nadella is no Steve Jobs and he has no business running the company; the cloud division maybe, but nothing else and without Mobile, they are dead!! Just make sure Redmond gets that message too, if you dare..
Did already..
**** **** **** android **** googl
How many companies have you CEO'd?
Microsoft is only focus on MONEY just look at those old win phone 8.1 did the get those wind 10 mpbile upgrade we just only see some phone SOME PHONES supported on the official win 10 mobile
Microsoft is too slow. They need to speed up in their development and get devices out there. Also they need more consistency. Nobody is going to invest into a product line where you do not know what the future holds ... Good article, btw!
"Microsoft is too slow. They need to speed up in their development and get devices out there. Also they need more consistency. Nobody is going to invest into a product line where you do not know what the future holds ..." Microsoft needs committment to products. Speeding up development isn't going to help. All that will do is make even more obsolete or abandoned technologies. Apple's playbook has been to stay consistent, perhaps to a fault, but it's worked well. They've also kept things simple. And, they've been rewarded. They're the only smartphone manufacturer making any serious coin off the whole smartphone market.
I am not talking about rushing things. But still ... I think development is too slow. Features requested for years took ages to be implemented. When I look at how the feedback hub and, back then, uservoice, were / are handled, I can only shake my head. Especially since microsofts own brands, eg. xbox, are doing a fantastic job with it! The xbox uservoice page is well moderated, duplicates get merged, ideas are being edited to better suit the whole concept. On the windows feedback sites I do not feel like there is any moderation at all ... which in my opinion really hurts the speed wanted features are getting implemented. The thing is, they simply do not have any time anymore. They have to pick up the few developers that are still left on the platform fast with a followup or it will be really really really hard to ever recover. If they do not finally start to come up with a consistent strategy where the direction they are going is clear, people are not going to invest in it, and they certainly wont invest into something that has been rebooted twice and where nobdy is even sure whether it will get dumped the next few months alltogether ... The mere fact that there even is the debate about the platform being dead or not shows, that the commitment from Microsoft is lacking and I think the speed at which the development is currently at isn't doing them any favour. In order to be relevant again, they not only need to catch up to their competition, feature wise, they need to overtake them and I don't see that happening at the moment.
Android "Operating System" is in more devices today BECAUSE OF PHONES (everyone including your kids have a phone or tablet). But to the comparison of a rudimentary Android system in a phone or tablet as a replacement of full Windows in a gaming/business/PC system is insane. It's apples and oranges. You will NOT see Android running servers, gaming machines, video editing machines, etc etc etc anytime soon if ever.
@TrueMetalGeek "You will NOT see Android running servers, gaming machines, video editing machines, etc etc etc anytime soon if ever." Gaming machines? iOS is where gamers are at. XBox, PlayStation and whatever is Nintendo's latest project have experienced heavy declines because of iOS, and, also a bit due to Android. Video editing? Huh. Where does modern video get shot? On mobile phones! And, then gets posted directly to the cloud after some simple post-processing on phones. Servers. Not on Android but certainly on its ancestor, Linux. Of course, Linux already dominates the server market anyway. You are right, Android isn't the biggest threat to Microsoft. iOS is! That's where all the high value and currently active users are found. But, as a commodity OS, Android is also a threat to Microsoft's future success. I agree, high end video editing is not suited to Andoid, nor is console gaming, but, other than that I contend TrueMetalGeek misses the forest for the trees. Young people are already using Android and iOS as their primary devices. They are more than capable of replacing business functions. Word process, spread sheets, microblogging, instant messaging. These are all handled to the satisfaction of 20-somethings and teenagers TO THE POINT WHERE THEY DON'T NEED DESKTOPS. Apple's Mac OS X is somewhat insulated from this threat because of its tight integration with iOS, the dominant mobile OS. But, even there you can see that Apple is prioritizing its iOS development to the detriment of Mac OS X. Windows, OTOH, is not. Microsoft is now playing catchup by bringing its Microsoft ecosystem to Android, but, it may be too little too late. On Android it's competing directly with Google who ensures its services are fully integrated into the OS if manufacturers want the right to the trademark Android. Windows may be the most common DESKTOP OS, but, it's only common for us old farts (i.e. 30 and over). If you're under 30 you've grown up in a world where iOS has been the dominant OS in your life. Android has picked up some market share but it's distinctly a second tier OS for people less able or less willing to spend money (disclosure: my iOS devices have all been hand-me-downs... I'd never pay that much money for a device I can sit on and break, by accident). It's that complete dominance by iOS (and some Android) with young people that is likely keeping Microsoft strategists up at night. They have us old fart contingent locked up, but, that also exposes their achilles heel. Old people get older and eventually keel over or stop buying new stuff. Young people eventually get older, and, they keep doing what they did when they were younger. If they used or desired iOS as teenagers, chances are they'll keep using iOS or buy new iOS devices when they have money. But, who am but someone who's had a pretty good track record of identifying failures and recognising successes. Microsoft's Windows 10 is an interesting OS, but, it is a failure on touch. And, unless things change, it will continue to be a failure. The barrier to entry is too high. It took me NO TIME AT ALL to figure out how an iPad worked the first time I used one. BlackBerry PlayBook, OTOH, I had to READ THE MANUAL to figure out how to use it. Look at which tablet still exists. When I flip my 2-in-1 Windows laptop to a 13" tablet I've got to say I'm shocked by how mediocre the touch interface is when in tablet mode. All Microsoft has tried is to make a desktop OS a touch OS. It's NOT WORKING. The paradigms are not the same. PlayBook kept things simple and had a decent solution even if it required initial training. Microsoft's doesn't work. Trying to keep the desktop paradigm while introducing touch isn't a roaring success. Yes, it's a nice bonus, but it's no threat to the dominance of iOS on tablets, or, even the increase of Android.
The days of Android are numbered. Even Google knows it!

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