Why I think MS needs to get back into Mobile and fast

[pjhenry1216]

I was on W10M until I was forced to switch to Verizon. I had the Elite x3 and nothing was available (at the time) on Verizon. So I got the Pixel XL. I went all in with MS on everything but little things keep nagging me with individual services here and there that are easily fixed by switching to Google's ecosystem. First it was dropping Cortana for Google Assistant. The inability to use voice from the homescreen was simply a non-starter. Then it was the calendar. I couldn't get automatic Do Not Disturb to work because it only recognized Google Calendars are a calendar provider and not Outlook. Then I Gmailified my Outlook account because there was no easy way to deal with spam (at least at the time, i haven't looked at it recently). Now I'm considering switching back to my old Gmail account in general because Gmailification has its drawbacks and 95% of those problems go away if i just use a native gmail account. I used Launcher, but recently the homescreen freezes on me and only loads the dock and I can't even get to my apps. So I went back to Pixel Launcher. Then I dropped the Bing as default search because I liked the ability to Google Assistant with search. I still use Office Home, so I use the office suite and OneDrive. Plus I still use OneNote. But how long til I find out its just easier to use Google's services instead due to streamlining? Particularly with integration with the Google Assistant?

 

[Adventurer64]

I agree. I've been back on Android (LG V20) for a few months after my short 8 mth stint on W10M. Hands down I prefer W10M over android, but made switch back because I somehow fried the battery on my TMO Idol 4S. I'm not using any Google products other than Android OS and Play Store. Mostly MS apps or other Google alternatives like SquareHome2, Here Maps, Groove, Outlook, Office, OneNote, Bing App, Edge Browser, etc. A few annoyances, but all is well for NOW. I really liked W10M because it complimented my SP 2017. But, without mobile, I may find myself slowly but surely drifting away from Windows 10.

 

[Marcin Dabrowsky]

for Microsoft to get out of the mobile game was the biggest single idiotic mistake I can think of in recent tech history. The future of almost all communications is mobile. Consumer internet connected mobile devices are growing at a pace faster than just about any other electronic category. Why in the world would MSFT move away from it? Do you honestly think people will go out of their way to install Cortana, Outlook, Onedrive, Office on their phones when Apple and Google already integrate their own very good versions of it with every single phone that ships?

All they had to do is pay whatever it took to only develop about 15-20 MAJOR apps that everyone uses. Facebook (I dont use), major bank apps, Youtube, etc... After that, other app makes would jump on and start developing for the platform.

Actually come to think of it, Youtube would have been an issue since Google probably blocked it from happening. Its monopoly is ridiculous.

One more thing, ADVERTISE. The only adverts I remember seeing en mass were ones for the Lumia 1020 I think where they were going all in with the camera. Why wouldn't they continue advertising hard and pushing forward?

Anyway, I think Microsoft being the giant that it is, really made a giant mistake by getting out of mobile. Their Surface line is great and they should have come out with a Surface phone that others would then base their own designs on. Entrenching yourself in the business and corporate world only is a bad idea. The consumer market is where it's at right now and its such a missed opportunity for MS that I can't even think about it without getting nauseous.

It just seems to me like MS has a history of starting things, putting a half assed effort into them, then killing them prematurely.

 

[mggm100]

This has been the nature of my concerns about going back to Android after WM10. I'm still using my 950XL and have no plans for making a change any time soon. I'm not happy about moving to iOS either, although for the moment at least it seem slightly more attractive to me than Android even though Microsoft itself has done more with Android than iOS.

 

[etphoto]

I agree with OP. I moved to a Galaxy s8 a month or so ago and I'm slowly weaning myself off MS services. The first to go was Outlook. It was mind boggling to me that in 2017 Outlook on Android didn't have a month view. I ended up paying for nine, its an email / calendar app that so far works pretty nicely. I also agree that MS getting out of mobile has to be one of the dumbest idea of all and lead me to believe that they will have to re-enter with the ARM line of products being released sometime in 2018 (hopefully).

 

[BajanSaint69]

Look at what MS is doing....

They have tried to get developers to support a windows mobile OS with no success.

The app gap has been proved to be insurmountable doing a "me too" phone.

Doing another one will end the same way that the others did, small enthusiast market but not enough to break into the mainstream.

Look at the indicators of what MS is doing

C-shell an interface that can fit any screen
Windows on Arm- an OS that can run Win10s programs on phone hardware
Andromeda/One Core - OS core that is modular in nature and can run on virtually any sized device.
Surface - A MS hardware brand that defines itself as a "category creator" that is devices that you never knew you needed or wanted.
Andromeda device patents: a small foldable pocket sized device that most likely will have phone capabilities.

MS is getting back into the mobile game, but it's doing it playing to its strengths. It's producing a small device that can run the millions of programs that exist for the desktop OS. It's ditching its 2% market share of the mobile market in a "bet the farm" gambit to produce a more powerful device that will do more than the typical phone can.

You can't get there from Windows 10 Mobile, which means that W10M has effectively become a dead end. Why spend money developing something that you are making obsolete? Microsoft never said they were getting out of Mobile, they said they were getting out of Windows Mobile. This is because a mobile OS is simply not needed, they have mobile hardware that will run the desktop OS (or a version of it anyway).

It's a strategy that has worked already in tablets, the Surface Pro is carrying the fight to the IPAD Pro which simply doesn't have an answer to the Surface's ability to run applications and not apps. Getting it to work in a tablet was one thing, getting it to work on a mobile phone form factor is something else. It's the programming equivalent of getting a camel through the eye of a needle. Given the sudden spate of leaks and the public admission that W10M is dead I suspect they've almost managed it.

If you project forwards on this particular set of tea leaves, having the Core OS and the C-shell means that not only could you run windows on a phone, you could theoretically run it on a wearable as well. Will that happen? I'm not sure. But I'm fairly comfortable that you will see Microsoft back in mobile in a different way that will potentially upset the android/IOS duopoly very soon.

 

[DOGC_Kyle]

It's a strategy that has worked already in tablets, the Surface Pro is carrying the fight to the IPAD Pro which simply doesn't have an answer to the Surface's ability to run applications and not apps. Getting it to work in a tablet was one thing, getting it to work on a mobile phone form factor is something else.

Really great points throughout, especially this one.

Surface was seen as a failure, like Windows on tablets would never catch on, but now, Apple is the one trying to copy it.
Given how disappointing recent phones have been (in terms of innovation), MS is probably gonna have perfect timing to launch a real PC that fits in your pocket.


I mean they've already shown they can get almost every single Windows application (no matter how old) running on ARM processors. There is no other OS that can do that. Plus Android apps, albeit not natively.

Not sure that Windows core is gonna run on any sort of watch sized device; even current wearables use low-level software, not a full OS. They're closer to an Arduino processors. But... could certainly be possible at some point in the near future. Processors get more efficient, and the OS requirements will continue to drop as they remove legacy bloat from Windows, so perhaps within a few years.

 

[etphoto]

Good points here and I have nothing to disagree about. The way I understand it, Windows and Windows 10 is pretty bloated. It kind of has to be so what ever device you plug into it works. However, with ARM, only the needed parts of Windows 10 will be installed in those devices. Making the OS less bloated.

 

[Ray Sim1]

I was a Windows Insider for the Windows 10 Mobile platform. I just purchased the Verizon HP Elite X3, most likely the last W10M device! The only browser I use is IE.
My experience with Microsoft products are as follows;
Desktops
• DOS 5.0
• DOS 6.x
• Windows 3.x
• Windows 95
• Windows 98
• Windows 2000
• Windows XP
• Windows 7
• Windows 8
• Windows 8.1
• Windows 10

Handheld Devices
• Pocket PC 2000
• Pocket PC 2002
• Windows CE 3.x
• Windows Mobile 3.x
• Windows Mobile 5.x
• Windows Mobile 6.x
• Windows Mobile 8.x
• Windows 10 Mobile
Microsoft's failure in the mobile market is the reason that they have also failed in the browser market. Their recent push to get their Apps on IOS and/or Android phones will also be a failure. If Microsoft doesn't become a dominant force in the mobile market soon, it could be the end of the consumer Windows Computer!
Just watch the iPad Pro — What’s a computer — Apple video below, which is so true with the younger generation today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQB2NjhJHvY

I hope to never purchased an IOS and/or Android device, but it appears that Microsoft is not giving me any choice.

 

[BajanSaint69]

The other thing potentially in MS's favour is that the IPhone is passe. There was a time that having an IPhone marked you as one of the trendy people, now it marks you as a follower. And slab phones are almost a commodity now.

 

[cckgz4]

Google and Apple wouldn’t support them and if their services don’t work, it’s a major drawback for a lot of people that depend on that. It sucks but even if Microsoft kept it going, not having them two support the platform would’ve been the same result

 

[BajanSaint69]

True, not having iTunes or Google apps has been a major drag on Windows Mobile. Windows on ARM is an elegant way around this. They can't block MS's mobile efforts without cutting themselves off of desktops

 

[johnny_bravo72]

Not gonna happen.
Windows 10 Mobile is basically dead – at least according to Microsoft | Trusted Reviews

 

[DOGC_Kyle]

Their recent push to get their Apps on IOS and/or Android phones will also be a failure. If Microsoft doesn't become a dominant force in the mobile market soon, it could be the end of the consumer Windows Computer!

These statements directly contradict each other... how does putting their software on MORE phones make them a LESS dominant force? More phones = more customers.

Just watch the iPad Pro — What’s a computer — Apple video below, which is so true with the younger generation today.

doesnt this video specifically showcase MS Office? Again, simple business, more tablets = more customers.


It's not like MS can stop people from buying competing hardware. They might as well take advantage of it.

 

[anon(50597)]

The other thing potentially in MS's favour is that the IPhone is passe. There was a time that having an IPhone marked you as one of the trendy people, now it marks you as a follower. And slab phones are almost a commodity now.

Apple is not the most dominant company in the world because the iPhone “passé”. Someday something else will overtake it but, right now, it is king.

 

[BajanSaint69]

Yes it's king, it's king because it's ubiquitous, someone wanting to be trendy is not going for an iPhone.

 

[anon(50597)]

Yes it's king, it's king because it's ubiquitous, someone wanting to be trendy is not going for an iPhone.

Android is ubiquitous.
iPhone provides a better overall experience and support, though that can be argued with the latest batterygate.

 

[markeboyle]

supporting Android apps would fix this