The company is upending Windows to get back in the game, which is now centered on mobile devices. It won't overtake Apple or Google, but it will apply its money, developers, and persistence to winning.
Steve Ballmer and his lieutenants have been planning for this day for years. On October 26, Windows 8 officially goes on sale, and Microsoft is back in the game. For several years, Microsoft has been a wallflower, watching as Apple, Google, and others executed on the shift from desktop to mobile and the cloud. That's not to say business was bad for Microsoft. The company has held a 95 percent share of the desktop market, and its enterprise and Xbox businesses are strong. But that's not where the puck, and future massive growth, is headed.
The future is in platforms, apps, and cloud services that seamlessly span devices, especially tablets and smartphones. With Windows 8, a product that has been in gestation since 2009, Microsoft may be making the biggest bet in its 37-year history. And as the debut of the new Windows nears, the company's top echelon is raising expectations of something big.
In praising Windows 8, none other than Bill Gates said that the new platform was "absolutely critical" to Microsoft and "key to where personal computing is going." Windows 8 provides a mostly unified platform that works across PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
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Microsoft tries to play leapfrog with Windows 8 | Microsoft - CNET News
