Ballmer Criticizes Microsoft's Recent Decision to Shelve Making Android Apps Work on Windows Phone

[PereDroid]

Right.

/Rant mode - small
And I really don't think I need ONE OS TO RULE MY LIFE. I am FINE with an Android phone, a Windows computer and a Playstation.
Everyone (MS, Apple, Google) needs to stop trying to talk me into thinking I want to live that way.
I like having different tools for different jobs.
Honestly, I think it'd be kind of lame to have a Windows computer, a Windows tablet and a Windows phone. *Yawn...boring....

I am an IT Support Professional. I support MS products. I have Office 365 Cloud Services for Email and other things. I like MS. Not only because they indirectly feed my family. Because I like the products.
MS can't even get ME to want a Windows Phone. Hello?!?

I don't need Android/iOS apps on my tablet. It's an actual WINDOWS computer.
No Facebook app? So what? facebook.com
No youtube app? Youtube.com
No Gmail app? Gmail.com
No Pinterest? No Maps?
.com .com

And if MS Phone is really becoming just Windows 10 on a tiny slab?

I can live and play in Windows and Android. In fact, I want to.

 

[kodiak799]

Here's the thing: I can't think of ONE Android app I really want on my Win Tab.
What are you guys wanting?

MS killed widgets (but there's a work around)...I like having the weather, a resource monitor and news widget on my screen - just like on my phone. I could come up with more, but that's a start (and both Windows and Android are still struggling to do unified inbox, with Exchange, right).

I also don't have a problem with Windows on my PC and an Android phone...but the future is driven by phones with PC's/monitors and tablets being basically dummy terminals. That's the real battle going on. And while that future is still years away, everyone is trying to carve-out and defend their turf.

 

[kodiak799]

There's also Bluestacks, which lets you run Android apps in a virtual environment. But that's not ideal, even if it now has the capability to run multiple apps in multiple windows, just like browser tabs.

Speaking of browsers, Google is also merging Android and Chrome OS (they said that 5-6 years ago, then denied it, and are now confirming it). I would guess they'll also do something similar, like maybe a sidebar, in the Chrome browser.

Some good points here and real issues about MS doing this and supporting it. But the reality is the strategic/competitive threat is real, and pretending it doesn't exist won't make it go away. So unless MS wants to give-up on the browser and search market, and the lucrative marketing/data analytics that go with it, they need to work to add the features that will be in demand to remain competitive.

 

[PereDroid]

The Weather and News apps in Win8 are right on your Metro UI. And they're gorgeous and well made.
Win10, right there in the "start" menu if you like.
Resource monitor? Check out "Bginfo".
And the default mail app works well
with my 3 mail apps?!?


Tap'n Turbo

 

[kodiak799]

The Weather and News apps in Win8 are right on your Metro UI. And they're gorgeous and well made.
Win10, right there in the "start" menu if you like.
Resource monitor? Check out "Bginfo".
And the default mail app works well
with my 3 mail apps?!?

In Windows 10, they're in the start menu. That's a fail - having to click something to view a widget largely defeats the purpose of having a widget. The updating is also sketchy, IMO.

I haven't tried the default mail app in a long time...been Outlook for work and either thunderbird or eM Client. All of them are far from perfect.

Bginfo? Seriously? You said you work in IT, and setting up Bginfo is a waste of my time when the frickin' widget was already perfect for my needs and all I had to do was right click and scroll to the one I wanted to plop it on my desktop. This is why apps and widgets have taken off, because they're really easy to install and use.

 

[kodiak799]

Honestly, the only thing Windows really has going for it and the only reason I still use it is because of Office. I think it's more user-friendly than Linux, but if and when the full Office suite (and its add-ins) is fully compatible with ChromeOS/Android I'll be making a switch...