Microsoft's master plan to beat Apple and Google

A ton of assumptions peppered with a pretty glaring lack of substance. So "Microsoft is making radical changes"? You mean different from the last "too little, too late" campaigns they had?<p>Reads like an ad for investors. Like something that is promised for the future and we will enjoy if we only hold out and believe. Sounds like the tune Microsoft has been whistling for decades now.<p>&#62; <i>That's the world for which Microsoft is building Windows 8. It can run everything from a touchscreen app like Angry Birds to resource-intensive software such as 3-D games and video editing tools. That sounds simple, but it's an all-in-one approach Microsoft's rivals have chosen not to pursue.</i><p>No, actually that sounds almost entirely meaningless.

<i>"All the reviewers point out a key question mark hanging over Windows 8: Developer support."</i><p>Of all the things Microsoft does, the one it clearly does better than Apple or Google is support developers. And all that support helps facilitate what is almost certainly the largest development community among them.<p>Metro turns every corporate developer into a potential mobile developer. I doubt adoption by developers will be the issue.

I don't hold any love for any of them, but I downloaded Windows 8 and it recognised my 8 year old pro audio interface and it just worked, legacy hardware is a big deal, people don't all have money to throw out all their stuff.

For years Microsoft has failed to deliver the great UX we've come to expect from devices like the iPad and iPhone, and apps like gmail. I've heard Windows Phone is pretty good, but it's hard to imagine Microsoft offering serious competition to Apple and Google while they still think stuff like this is a good idea: <a href="http://gizmodo.com/5835814/th-new-windows-8-explorer-ui-looks-like-a-mess" rel="nofollow">http://gizmodo.com/5835814/th-new-windows-8-explorer-ui-look...</a>

From the article:<p><i>we're in a "post-PC" world</i><p><i>in five years, the PC won't be what it is today.</i><p>Allow me to be skeptical. Those statements sound just like 'the novel is dead' from the 60's of the past century. It's now fifty years later, and we can still buy books; and desktop PC's, desks and chairs won't disappear anytime soon.

The thing is, Microsoft can integrate with its own products as much as it wants, but I will never have <i>only</i> Microsoft products. If it doesn't integrate well with other products not controlled by Microsoft, I think their strategy will fail. And let's face it, they've got a terrible track record in that area.

If Microsoft is aiming for an all-in-one situation than they're doing it right. I don't understand why I'm not yet able to have a truly unified experience with all of my devices including smart appliances. I think a hardware maker will have figured it out when they are able to deliver products that provide a consistent interface, delivering smart-content on demand without having to have a gazillion apps. Build devices so they are connected with each other out of the box, not after downloading the remote app and TV guide app and remote desktop app...

<i>Macs integrate with iOS devices, but there's a clear schism in Apple's world view: Mobile devices are for content consumption, Macs are for creation</i><p>Yeah, this is true. But I don't think that Android, let alone Windows Phone, are any different. Are developers going to start writing apps with their phones? No. At least not anytime soon, and definitely not with Windows Phone.

Almost anything can be shed a favored light upon. Being slow and late can just be called being patient.