Microsoft is ahead actually. It is painfull and execution is far from perfect, but they are innovating in this direction fast.
1. Like Apple, they have unified large parts of Windows on PC and Mobile, most importantly the UI. Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 also share a lot of technology; much more than OSX and iOS. For instance, they can easily support multimonitor setups, which iOS and Android cannot (afaik)
2. Microsoft has also built huge datacenters, and with Windows Azure, they now have a very complete cloud offering, including the possibility to run workstation class applications like Photoshop and Visual Studio virtualized on every device, including iOS (now that it supports a mouse) and Android.
3. Microsoft is far ahead in multi-user support, which is very important. From consumer accounts (with features such as Family Safety) to enterprise directories and cloud directories, Microsoft has all the infrastructure already in place. Settings are synced between all Windows 8+ devices, and it works very well.
4. Microsoft has a much better story toward organizations. Organizations centrally control security for their employees and they can determine how they run their systems. Azure enables hybrid cloud/on-premise solutions. Microsoft even pre-integrates their competitors OSses (several flavors of Linux) and services (Google Apps, Salesforce, and many others) in Windows Azure.
5. If Microsoft finally manages to come up with a workable Metro version of Office, the Windows desktop will become unnecessary for most users, and the new UI will start to make more sense: from phone consumption to desktop productivity to server administration: it will all work the same way. Apps may run remotely or locally without the user even knowing. Like Apple and Google, Microsoft will charge for an Office 365 subscription (for storage), and allow "free" installation of Office on any device, including iPad, iPhone and Android.
I agree with this. Microsoft has a good idea in W8, but their execution stinks. iOS & Android own the consumer market. It's unrealistic for MS to overcome their enormous lead in apps. But MS can enter the market from a position of strength: enterprise integration. If more businesses move employees to tablets, they will need enterprise features to extend their existing Windows environment to tablets/phones. They already want portable desktop environments, so this will be another bonus. Apple and Google are focused on consumers. Who is MS's competition in the enterprise space? The only thing preventing MS from succeeding is MS.
Microsoft is ahead actually. It is painfull and execution is far from perfect, but they are innovating in this direction fast.
1. Like Apple, they have unified large parts of Windows on PC and Mobile, most importantly the UI. Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 also share a lot of technology; much more than OSX and iOS. For instance, they can easily support multimonitor setups, which iOS and Android cannot (afaik)
2. Microsoft has also built huge datacenters, and with Windows Azure, they now have a very complete cloud offering, including the possibility to run workstation class applications like Photoshop and Visual Studio virtualized on every device, including iOS (now that it supports a mouse) and Android.
3. Microsoft is far ahead in multi-user support, which is very important. From consumer accounts (with features such as Family Safety) to enterprise directories and cloud directories, Microsoft has all the infrastructure already in place. Settings are synced between all Windows 8+ devices, and it works very well.
4. Microsoft has a much better story toward organizations. Organizations centrally control security for their employees and they can determine how they run their systems. Azure enables hybrid cloud/on-premise solutions. Microsoft even pre-integrates their competitors OSses (several flavors of Linux) and services (Google Apps, Salesforce, and many others) in Windows Azure.
5. If Microsoft finally manages to come up with a workable Metro version of Office, the Windows desktop will become unnecessary for most users, and the new UI will start to make more sense: from phone consumption to desktop productivity to server administration: it will all work the same way. Apps may run remotely or locally without the user even knowing. Like Apple and Google, Microsoft will charge for an Office 365 subscription (for storage), and allow "free" installation of Office on any device, including iPad, iPhone and Android.