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Is running the same OS across all device factors not a big enough accomplishment? Develop a single application, that relies on the same API set and runs across

by alyx 12y ago

Is running the same OS across all device factors not a big enough accomplishment? Develop a single application, that relies on the same API set and runs across, PC, Phone, XBOX, Micro... aka Desktop, Mobile, TV, Everything Else... I would say that's pretty impressive if they pull it off, considering how many customers and scenarios that will span. [1] http://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2014/09/30/universal-windows-apps-get-better-with-windows-10/ http://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2014/09/30/universal-w...

jvagner 12y ago
Microsoft was always the continuity OS company. The fact that they need a concerted effort to get closer to what Apple has maintained is ridiculous. That they had separate and incompatible desktop, gaming, tablet and phone OSes is a monstrous error that puts them behind, again, for years.
- zastrowm 12y ago
  I don't understand the Apple comparison. Do iOS apps run on OS-X? The fact that they're consolidating the console, desktop, and tablet/phone OSs is the impressive accomplishment, not the phone/tablet consolidation. As for consoles, a few years ago, consoles were a whole different beast from what they are now, so it wouldn't have made much sense to have the OS the same.
  - bruceboughton 12y ago
    No but iOS shares a lot of code and APIs with OS X, which simplifies Apple's development. Apple understands that different devices need different UIs but can share code and core APIs. Microsoft thinks that different devices should have the same UI but hasn't previously managed to share code and APIs.
dragonwriter 12y ago
> Is running the same OS across all device factors not a big enough accomplishment? Sure, but unification was part of the big pitch for Windows 8. Of course, it wasn't quite what they did, but the fact that it was the pitch for the last major version makes the "this time we really mean it" repetition of the pitch for Windows 10 less overwhelming. Fool me once...

by alyx 12y ago

jvagner 12y ago

Microsoft was always the continuity OS company. The fact that they need a concerted effort to get closer to what Apple has maintained is ridiculous. That they had separate and incompatible desktop, gaming, tablet and phone OSes is a monstrous error that puts them behind, again, for years.

zastrowm 12y ago
I don't understand the Apple comparison. Do iOS apps run on OS-X? The fact that they're consolidating the console, desktop, and tablet/phone OSs is the impressive accomplishment, not the phone/tablet consolidation. As for consoles, a few years ago, consoles were a whole different beast from what they are now, so it wouldn't have made much sense to have the OS the same.
- bruceboughton 12y ago
  No but iOS shares a lot of code and APIs with OS X, which simplifies Apple's development. Apple understands that different devices need different UIs but can share code and core APIs. Microsoft thinks that different devices should have the same UI but hasn't previously managed to share code and APIs.

dragonwriter 12y ago

> Is running the same OS across all device factors not a big enough accomplishment? Sure, but unification was part of the big pitch for Windows 8. Of course, it wasn't quite what they did, but the fact that it was the pitch for the last major version makes the "this time we really mean it" repetition of the pitch for Windows 10 less overwhelming. Fool me once...