The word on the street is that Microsoft is continuing to excel on competing platforms. Some Windows customers are not in tune with Microsoft’s current strategy to have Microsoft applications such as the Office suite on practically every competing platform.
It’s difficult to make exact figures when it comes to app numbers because an app like OneDrive might be available on multiple operating systems and technically be a separate app on iPhone and iPad but realistically OneDrive could easily only be counted as one app. That being said, even with overlap, iOS and Android have at least 50 applications from Microsoft each and that number is likely to grow in the coming years. Office and OneNote have been added to both operating systems, showing that even Window’s most popular and productive apps will make the leap.
Microsoft is not content with only adding a few core apps to their rival platforms. They have a Microsoft Garage program in which developers make applications for other platforms such as Next Lockscreen for Android. There are apps that are not that well known but the project is very active on other platforms.
The elephant in the room is that many of these apps are arriving on other platforms before Microsoft’s own Windows Phone and occasionally have better features. Touch Office is available with basic features for free on iOS and Android and the more advanced features can be unlocked by users with Office 365. Conversely, there are no finished touch versions of Office on Windows tablets, though a preview version is out now and will be released by the end of the year.
It’s a complicated time for Microsoft. While they are not a hardware company at heart, they shipped millions of Surface devices last year, acquired a part of Nokia and are reported to be releasing a new flagship Lumia device this year. Microsoft makes a massive portion of its profits from services that they sell such as Office 365. They make that money whether the users are on iOS, Android, Windows, or anything else.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has stated that Windows devices will be the best place for Windows products, but it’s become apparent that they won’t always be the first place and almost certainly won’t be the only one.
Further reading: Android, Apps, Cross platform, iOS, Microsoft, Office
