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Microsoft Reportedly Seeks To Put Windows Phone On Android Devices

quantr draws your attention to a Bloomberg report that Microsoft has reached out to HTC to see if the company would be interested in adding Windows as a second OS to its Android handsets. From the Bloomberg story: "Its willingness to add Windows as a second operating system underscores the lengths to which Microsoft will go to get manufacturers to carry its software. HTC, the first company to make both Windows and Android phones, hasn’t unveiled a new Windows-based handset since June and has no current plans to release any more, said one person. Microsoft, with 3.7 percent of the market, is finding it necessary to make concessions after agreeing to acquire Nokia Oyj’s handset unit, which competes with other smartphone makers. [Microsoft operating systems head Terry] Myerson was planning to visit Asia this month and meet with senior executives at Taoyuan, Taiwan-based HTC to discuss his proposal, one of the people said."

7 of 182 comments (clear)

  1. Wrong way round. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Android on Lumia, that'd be an offering.

    1. Re:Wrong way round. by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Funny you should mention that. Guess what Nokia was doing before Elop showed up?

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  2. This is simple numbers pumping by larwe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Microsoft has played games with numbers to pump its supposed Windows market share many many times. For instance, if you're a big corporation and you buy 10,000 machines with Vista installed, but backlevel them to XP, Microsoft counted those as Vista sales. This "dual boot" bullshit is almost certainly the same nonsense. HTC has a bigger market share by itself than all the Windows Phone devices in aggregate (I believe). Anyway, it's the #3 smartphone vendor behind Apple and Samsung. It's also in really dire trouble financially, or at least so the news-sphere seems to indicate. So, they're hurting for cash and might be willing to accept some cash to load Windows on their Android phones as dual boot. Practically nobody will use Windows, but Microsoft will be able to claim those dual boot handset sales as "Windows sales" and fake the numbers to make it look like Win Phone is growing in marketshare.

    1. Re:This is simple numbers pumping by Billly+Gates · · Score: 5, Funny

      I would be interested. I get real Onenote support and better integration for exchange at work. On the weekends its android time. Metro may suck on a big computer screen but is fine for cell phones.

      The Windows kernel is lighter than linux and snappy too.

  3. In other news... by sycodon · · Score: 5, Funny

    IBM has contacted Apple to see if they want to put MVS on the iPhone, complete with a punched card interface.

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    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  4. Trust Microsoft??? by jonsmirl · · Score: 5, Insightful

    My memory is fuzzy on this, but I believe Microsoft took Toshiba to court and made them stop dual booting Linux on their laptops about 20 years ago. At the time Toshiba owned a Linux distribution so they prevented Toshiba from shipping their own code.

    This is the same Microsoft that is extorting everyone over unnamed Android patent infringements.

    Why would you want to work with them? Every company that works with them ends up dead or wounded.

  5. Let me get this straight by Billly+Gates · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So instead of OEMS only caring about Windows, designing hardware only tested for Windows, only supporting Windows, signing Windows in the hardware boot device,and even including Windows where someone has to manually go into the bios and install a second bootloader to run Linux has now changed to carriers only caring about linux, designing phones just for linux/Android, only supporting Linux, and even signing linux to run Android on top, now has to listen to an angry MS who feels its soo unfair that no one will even stock their products on the shelf nor care and are begging just for the opportunity to dual boot! ... No cost too as well according to NEOwin!

    Wow. Couldnt happen to a nicer company. It is amazing how fast this happened. Windows CE was gearing up for a monopoly and beating blackberry just a few years ago to. ... well this?