rodan01
New member
That's a common belief and I understand why it is appealing, but that would be the death knell for Windows Phone OS. If we examine the root cause for the app gap, we'll see that it isn't because the media is so pro-Apple, or that Google did anything underhanded to gain marketshare, but because Microsoft has repeatedly stumbled and fumbled in the mobile space.
Many have forgotten, or were too young to remember, that the 2 big players in mobile were Palm and Microsoft. Microsoft's Windows CE, Pocket PC, and the rest were highly functional, highly flexible platforms. I developed for those early mobile platforms and did a lot of UI work as well. It had a level of ease of customization that Android still hasn't attained.
But Microsoft squandered the lead it had. Even when Palm imploded, Microsoft found ways to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.
I've lost count of how many developers got burned by putting their eggs in the Microsoft mobile basket. Once burned, twice shy. Apple seized on that distrust and rolled out the red carpet for developers. And Google later followed suit.
Microsoft will have to work twice as hard for twice as long to regain even a fraction of the good will they wasted.
There's no shortcut to that. There is no shortcut for establishing a good track record.
Microsoft should have stayed with DOS. Can you imagine a smartphone running DOS? That would be amazing for DOS developers.