It seems to me that Microsoft and Apple are -- quite consciously -- in a war to own the next ubiquitous language (the precursors being Javascript, PHP, Java, C+

It seems to me that Microsoft and Apple are -- quite consciously -- in a war to own the next ubiquitous language (the precursors being Javascript, PHP, Java, C++, C, Fortran, and COBOL). This is the language that Comp Sci students will spend their time in, that kids and hobbyists will tinker with, and so on. It's a huge deal -- the stakes are enormous. C# was in good shape and got better with Microsoft's recent cross-platform moves; Swift has started way behind, but is doing very, very well. Luckily for us, the two languages are not worlds apart. Crossing from one to the other won't be a terrible thing -- so lean back and enjoy your popcorn.