2000-2011 was the era of Apple.
2012 onwards, I daresay, will be the decade of Microsoft.
It spent the last decade lingering in the shadows of Apple’s meteoric rise. Rudderless without its captain who’d departed to steer the world’s largest philanthropic enterprise, Microsoft stumbled and fell hard. Save Windows XP and the XBox division, it had little to show for its efforts. It’s online division was an embarrassing footnote in the earnings report, its operating system that was supposed to cleanse the ills of past misadventures was a massive flop (Vista), and the belated take on Apple’s iPod was a disaster in function, design and marketing. Microsoft was irrelevant and we’d all pretty much erased it from our tech radars. Whatever MS released was met with a yawn and a sarcastic slow-clap. There were calls for Ballmer’s head and Gates’ return. Do whatever it may, there was only direction it seemed to be headed: downwards.
But then things changed and how. The Kinect was three steps ahead of anything Nintendo or Sony had to offer. Internet Explorer is finally catching up, and even trouncing the competition. Windows 7 is easily the best OS I’ve ever worked on – barring any Apple offering. And by all means, the Windows Phone is absolutely gorgeous. Things are looking up for Ballmer and co. again. Even the BusinessWeek seems to agree.
Consider the Windows Phone. For years we’ve been fed the crap that the smartphone war is between Android and Apple. Bullshit. The real war for smartphones will be fought between Apple and Windows Phone.
When I saw the first iPhone demo in 2007, my jaw dropped and every nerve in my body tingled with greed, screaming, “I want that. Right now!”. When I saw the first Android, the most I could come up with was an indifferent shrug and a ‘Meh’. That reaction still persists. Whatever Android comes up with seems like nothing but a cheap rip-off of Apple. It may be winning in terms of numbers, but that is because of a sheer lack of competition.
It was in 2011, four years after the iPhone debut, that I saw the first Windows Phone demo and had the same, familiar voice echoing in my head: “I want this. Right now!”. The Windows Phone is the only OS outside of the iOS’ first launch that made me desire it with unfathomable greed.
The Windows Phone, inevitably, will be the horse on which Microsoft will ride its way into relevancy again. Give it a few good handsets, and within five years, it will erase all traces of Android’s inconsequential existence on this planet. Don’t worry about the lack of apps; Steve Ballmer is an old hand at getting developers onboard (or need I link to the ‘developers, developers, developers’ jig?).
Next, consider Windows 8, which, by all indications, will also be used for tablets. I can mince words and shoot the shit, but Android tablets are utter, overpriced crap. They’re all cheap knock-offs of the iPad with none of the razzmatazz and sheer delight of an Apple product. A Windows 8 tablet will have two things going in its favor: it’ll look different (if not better), and it’ll have a humongous library of apps and software. You can count on Microsoft to ensure all your favorite PC software will be backwards-compatible with the Windows 8 tablet.
Microsoft has been slow to enter the field, but by all means, that is inconsequential, largely because Android is hardly a strong enough challenger to dethrone Apple from its perch (and don’t parade numbers here; numbers, in this case, are immaterial). Say whatever you may about Windows Phone, at least it doesn’t look like a poorer man’s iPhone, nor can you level this accusation against the Windows 8 tablet.
And let’s not forget that Google is right now like a hyperactive fat kid in a pastry shop; it simply doesn’t know what to focus on. Between its core search product, Google+, Android, and heck, even a Comcast competing internet+cable service, it’s trying to poke fingers into far too many pies at the same time. Microsoft, on the other hand, is betting big on its core expertise – software – and has far fewer distractions than Google.
A rather bold predicition, about the Windows phone phasing out the Android. Could you please enumerate the features of the new Windows phone which made you tingle with the “I want that. Right Now” statement? I am quite curious what it was about their technology which you thought to be innovative.
That’s the whole point: there was no logic involved. It was almost a primal response, a child’s wide eyed wonder when he sees a toy in a shop window. The child doesn’t sit down to analyze the toy’s mechanics; he wants it, and he wants it now. This happened just twice with me – once with the iPhone, then with Windows Phone.
Well, we don’t know how many base their buying decisions this way and, even if most are, we don’t know if their “primal” instict agrees with yours.
Regardless, I don’t see why there can’t be enough room for 3 or even 4 popular alternatives, as it happens i.e. in the browsers case.
As a happy user of Meego, I don’t care much either way (although, if there is one platform I can’t see myself using, that would be the IOS), so I might as well just sleep through this at my confy back-sit
Windows Phone Mango is at best a very childish looking OS. Sure its different, all crap looks different (and ugly). By the time WPOS is able to provide the normal features which are present in Android from the beginning, Android will again be a gazillion miles ahead of WPOS. Better luck next time.
Ah, Android fanboys. I’m terrified of engaging in debate with any one of you, or the Cupertino worshipping multitudes.
> Windows 7 is easily the best OS I’ve ever worked on – barring any Apple offering.
I imagine your list of used OSes is pretty short. And your metrics sound like you like the shiny.
Maht, a lot of us tend to forget that for the average consumer, OS X and Windows are the only two operating systems they would encounter.
We’re talking about the masses here, not the Linux worshipping geek minority.
“A Windows 8 tablet [will] have a humongous library of apps and software.”
Wrong. At least as long as Intel can’t compete with ARM in the mobile space. Windows 8 on tablets will be called Windows, but it’s a different thing alltogether if you can *only* run Metro-Apps specifically written for Windows 8 on ARM.
What a silly article.
Windows Phone is going nowhere. For many reasons but especially because developers
aren’t interested.
Windows 7 is the same old regurgitated Microsoft garbage with a designed by committee
interface and sitting on a maze of spaghetti code that allows tons of malware exploits, lack of
stability, and poor use of hardware resources.
Windows 8 will double down on that. God forbid Microsoft do what Apple has done twice now and recreate the OS from scratch.
In the meantime enjoys constant patches, malware, registry cleaning, disk defragmenting, and all the other nonsense that no modern OS should even have to consider.
A Microsoft basher with an @osx.com email address?
Thank you for your objective opinion.
I’d urge you to try some of this software before bashing it. As far as development goes, unless you’re developing for windows/xbox/MS stuff, it’s not a good platform for development. Also, I agree that IE is catching up, but it’s not trouncing anything except older versions of IE. What kind of work do you do that windows works well for? I’m a web developer and find OSX/fedora/ubuntu miles easier to use for web development than windows. Give them a shot, you may even be impressed if you do so with an open mind, I know I was.
I never have, never will bash OSX. I think it’s a beautiful piece of software that works incredibly well for its intended audience. I just don’t feel the need to shell out that kind of cash for a Mac.
I do bash Android because it is largely derivative of iOS.
Ahh, have you used OSX much? It wouldn’t be much of a compliment to say “windows 7 is the best os I’ve used for working” if it’s the only one you’ve used. I understand the cash thing to a point, but that leaves out linux. There’s a small learning curve, but it’s worth it for the productivity, have you used any linux distros?
I’ve never spent considerable time with Linux to actually have an opinion on it. Factually, my statement is true. Windows 7 is the best OS I’ve used.
I guess one reason I never picked up Linux was that I started out as a hardcore gamer when I was first introduced to computers. Back then, it was next to impossible to find anything worth playing for Mac or Linux. Windows became a habit. I’m not sure if its a good or bad habit, however.
Ahh, that makes sense. I’m only an occasional gamer but still can’t find a whole lot to play on linux, even less w/my friends. Anyway I find it difficult to make time to try a lot of new things, and this may be the case for you, but if you want to get started w/linux I’d recommend it on a VM. Let me know if you have any questions on the right tools/desktop environments for beginners! (it’ll be opinion, but I have links too!)