Is Windows 8 a threat to Android?

Is Windows 8 a threat to Android?

It has been almost a year since I wrote Google is winning smart phone war but things have changed since then. Google is losing the Tablets war and it may be too late to come back. Today, there are several bigger players involved.

OK, let's look back for a moment. When you think about building an app, you think about one or more of these three platforms – Apple iOS, Google Android, and Microsoft Windows Phone. As you can see all of these players are big players. While Apple products and iOS are very popular, Google's Android leads the market with the most activated devices. Microsoft is still a child and playing a catch-up game with Apple and Google.

However, the equation of mobile development platforms has changed in the last 6 months or so. There has been an introduction of a new wild card, HTML 5. While Apple is not taking too much interest in HTML 5, Google and Microsoft are luring HTML 5 in a big way. Microsoft has its reasons. Microsoft needs HTML 5 to get some grip on the mobile market. While Google has built many tools and websites focusing on HTML including HTML 5 Rocks, Microsoft has taken a totally new approach. Microsoft seems to have integrated HTML 5 development as its core development platform for Windows 8.

Since the launch of the Windows 8 consumer preview on Feb 29, the more I learn and read about Windows 8, the greater I am impressed. I kind of begin to see a clear picture of what Microsoft is trying to do with Window 8 and Metro Style apps. It's a different story if it will succeed or not. Microsoft is not only building a single-operating-system-for-all but also planning to use a single platform to build all device apps. Metro apps can be the single answer to all of Microsoft's development problems and an answer to Apple's growing iOS. Metro style apps (either using XAML or HTML 5) can be built to target all PCs, Tablets and smartphones.

I have also seen more and more activity on C# Corner with Windows 8 discussions, blogs and contents. It is too early to say how successful Windows 8 and Metro Style apps will be but I kind of like the concept. All I have to do is, learn a single programming framework and maintain a single code base to target PCs, Web, Tablets and mobile. At least this sounds good in theory.

Alright! Let's take a step back. Let's think about today; what we have as mobile operating systems.

In today's Web OS world, there are three major players. Apple has iOS, Microsoft has Windows Phone and Google has Android. Android leads the market with Android OS users and active devices. Below Google and Apple iOS, Microsoft has Windows Phone. Windows Phone is a new born child in the mobile iOS hangout.

So what changes with Windows 8 in the mobile space? Well, a lot.

Windows 8 – Operating System for All

Windows 8 seems to be the ultimate operating system for all PCs, Tablets and mobile devices. From Microsoft's perspective, rather than running and managing multiple operating systems, it makes total sense to just run the same operating system on every device. But we are not done yet. Think about 5 years down the road when every PC (alright maybe not every but the majority) will be running Windows 8. Now if I am a Windows 8 user and get a new Android device, I will need to learn a different interface. But if I am getting a new Tablet or phone with Windows 8, I am already familiar with the interface.

The same applies to Apple. Apple Mac users are already accustomed to seeing and touching the Apple OS on their Mac so when they get a new iPhone or iPad, they are already familiar with it.

So that leaves Google nowhere. Google has no operating system for PCs.

Microsoft's Nokia Relationship

However, Microsoft raised eyebrows when Microsoft announced a partnership with Nokia and gave Nokia $1 billion dollars. Today, that $1 billion dollar investment is paying off. All new Nokia devices are loaded with the Windows Phone operating system. I guess Nokia is not dead yet. Nokia still owns the major market share of mobile devices in the world. As a matter of fact, Nokia dominates both the European and Asian markets with over ??% of market share.

Tablets and smart device manufacturers have already started building Windows 8 tablets. I am also assuming that all Nokia devices (tablets and mobile phones) running the Windows Phone operating system will also be running the Windows 8 operating system.

Microsoft quits Windows Phone

Does that mean Microsoft will abandon Windows Phone? I would say so. It will depend on how Tablet users adapt to Windows 8. That means Windows Phone developers should be ready to trash their experience and start learning Windows 8. This sounds familiar since Silverlight developers will have to trash their experience as well and learn something new. The good thing for Windows Phone and Silverlight developers is that the migration will be easy and simple. Even though HTML 5 is becoming more and more popular and useful, XAML will still be the scripting language and Visual Studio 11 will still be there.

Microsoft Cloud

We have heard about Google TV and Apple TV. How about Microsoft TV? How about Xbox? With the help of SkyDrive and the Windows Store, Microsoft is planning to share a PC's (or device's) data from anywhere using any device including a PC, a Tablet, a mobile phone and an Xbox console. While Apple may seem to have everything else but Xbox but Google has no operating system for PCs. Google has no Xbox. Google does not rule the PC world. All Google is trying to control is its PC customers using Chrome and Gmail. Alright may be Google+ but that's a long shot.

The Verdict

At the end of the day, it will depend on the success of Windows 8. If Windows 8 is adopted well by PC users, Microsoft may have a chance to gain some market share from Google in the mobile operating system market. 


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