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PC Makers Plan Rebellion Against Microsoft At CES
Velcroman1 writes "Fearing rapidly plummeting sales of traditional laptops and desktop computers — which fell by another 10 percent or so in 2013 — manufacturers are planning a revolt against Microsoft and the Windows operating system, analysts say. At the 2014 CES in Las Vegas, multiple computer makers will unveil systems that simultaneously run two different operating systems, both Windows and the Android OS that powers many of the world's tablets and smartphones, two different analysts said recently. The new devices will be called 'PC Plus' machines, explained analyst Tim Bajarin. 'A PC Plus machine will run Windows 8.1 but will also run Android apps as well,' Bajarin wrote. Another analyst put the threat to Windows bluntly: 'This should scare the heck out of Microsoft.'"
Why the hell would this scare Microsoft?
Microsoft is ALREADY making billions off Android royalties.
Plus these vendors are already contractually obligated to pay the Microsoft tax REGARDLESS of what OS they load onto a system.
This would be a perfect trifecta for Redmond. Microsoft will just look at this and go "We'll get a royalty? WIN! We'll still get our OS tax? WIN! We don't have to support it? WIN!"
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
People people people! Read TFA! These laptops are running Windows and not anything but Windows. This "two OSs at once" crap is just that. They support the Android API, so (some) Android apps will run on Windows. That's all. There's a lot less here than meets the eye.
So there's no use saying they should have picked Chrome OS or Linux or some other OS to run in conjunction with the Windows OS, because they're not running anything but the Windows OS. Sorry to be a buzzkill.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
http://xamarin.com/ Here's a good place to start: http://hanselminutes.com/362/ios-and-android-apps-with-xamarin-studio-20-and-miguel-de-icaza There are examples of games with of 95% code re-use across Windows Phone, iOS, and Android.
Well if they do it right it can be damned nice and useful. I have a EEE netbook that has both Win 7 X64 and Expressgate and I have to say that when i just need to check my email, find out some quick fact, do a price check on a part for a customer? Having an OS that is ready to go in under 6 seconds is pretty damned handy.
So don't think of it as a "dual boot", think of it as a fast limited mobile OS and a bigger slower full featured OS where you choose what would be best for your needs at that moment. If done right this could fix my one complaint about Expressgate, which was how big of a PITA it was to add new apps. If I could get the speed of Expressgate combined with the ease of adding apps through Google Play? Sounds like a winner to me. Its just too bad it'll probably be impossible for guys like me to simply replace Expressgate with Android as I'm quite happy with my netbook and really don't see a point on sinking a pile of money for a new unit when this one runs great.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.