PureBasic Forums - English

Kuron wrote:I am not sure why you bring up the desktop market and compatibility when Microsoft has made it clear that the ARM version of Windows 8 will not run x86 code.

I mention it because one HUGE failing of all tablets--except maybe Apples, but I wouldn't know--is their connectivity to your desktop pc. MS has what it takes to make that seamless. Whether they do or not is another story...they often make partial attempts that only increase frustrations, but sometimes they get it right.

As to advertising, now that Microsoft is the number 3 or 4 company (depending on the day), they simply don't have the budget they once had.

Is that a serious statement??? I certainly hope not! Whether Apple has surpassed them or not is irrelevant...unless you think it will cause them to INCREASE their marketing budget. Just because they are no longer the largest company doesn't mean they are no longer marketing or budgeting for it. Here is a quote about their stability:

A mini-Fort Knox in the making, the company [Microsoft] has total cash of $55.94 billion and debt of $ 22.05 million.

(Source: http://seekingalpha.com/article/314512- ... source=msn) With that kind of cash, they can do whatever they want to, as long as they put the right people behind it.


Sure, if a couple of the largest phone makers get on board, WebOs can take off. But just one phone or tab won't do it. It's got to be enough so the "big" app makers will port all of their apps over proactively. If the app makers don't do it proactively, then that means they have no faith in it. If there is no faith in it, then it's unlikely to grow. And looking at the current app store (which is relatively empty), apparently nobody had faith in it the first time around.

Tenaja wrote:I mention it because one HUGE failing of all tablets--except maybe Apples, but I wouldn't know--is their connectivity to your desktop pc. MS has what it takes to make that seamless. Whether they do or not is another story...they often make partial attempts that only increase frustrations, but sometimes they get it right.

If the Windows 8 x86 tablets actually appear, then MS would have a chance. However, that chance would be small, because Microsoft can't be competitive in the tablet market. Apple makes high-end tablets. People will pay the price for something that looks good and works well. Android tablets have a great price range and configurations to cover many needs. Windows 8 tablets will have a major disadvantage. They will be more expensive than a similarly specced Android tablet just because of the licensing fees manufacturers have to pay to be able to include Windows 8 on the tablet.

With the size of the Android store and the amount of available software for Androids, the Windows brand simply doesn't mean anything to consumers wanting a tablet. This is like the old pocket pc days. Sure, MS's Pocket PCs had bigger specs than Palm Pilots (they needed it to run the hefty embedded Windows), but when compared to the Palm Pilot, the Pocket PC barely had any software available for it. It was pretty rare to see a Pocket PC. Palm Pilots dominated the market.

We are seeing the same thing today with tablets. Just substitute Apple or Android for Palm Pilots. When it comes to tablets, I think MS will continue their 10 year losing streak. This is a market they have proven they are incapable of competing in.

Tenaja wrote:Sure, if a couple of the largest phone makers get on board, WebOs can take off. But just one phone or tab won't do it. It's got to be enough so the "big" app makers will port all of their apps over proactively.

I don't think it will be a success, because they are late to the game. That said, so is MS. WebOS is a better product. It is tested and ready to go and it is free. Of course, Microsoft can always say if you don't develop Windows 8 tablets, you can't develop Windows 8 desktops and laptops. This is the type of thing MS is famous for doing.

I would like to see WebOS do well because it is a good platform and it gives manufacturers and consumers a choice. I think it is likely too late. Unfortunately, HP really mismanaged WebOS (and tablets in general) because they caved to pressure from Microsoft.

For full disclosure, I am biased in two ways. I used to work for HP. The Palm OS is my favorite platform of all-time to develop for. I was really looking forward to developing for WebOS when it was still under Palm.

the.weavster wrote:This late in the game, it will be just like Linux is on the desktop...the 3% open source solution.Assuming the 3% figure is correct (which even M$ don't, they think it's around three times that)

Nope - I reckon 3% is about right, my website stats (which is aimed at a very broad community) support that - but combining Android & Linux gives 5%

Operating System % Visits
Windows..........73.42%
Macintosh........12.08%
iPhone.............5.58%
iPad................3.16%
Android............2.97%
Linux...............1.86%
(not set)...........0.37%
BlackBerry........0.19%
iPod................0.19%
Sony................0.19%