Microsoft hasn’t confirmed that you will be capable of run Windows

　　Next week, on October 18, Microsoft will release Windows eight.1, a relatively massive update that Microsoft hopes will ultimately give it relevance in the tablet space, and in the exact same time make Windows 8 much less abhorrent for desktop and laptop users. Microsoft is deluding itself, even though: Windows 8.1 definitely improves upon the horrid state of affairs which has persisted because the 1st public preview more than two years ago, but there’s no way that it's going to unseat iOS or Android inside the mobile arena. At best, the modifications made to Windows eight.1 will enable the OS to continue along the incredibly gradual incline treaded by Windows 8. Next year, although, when Windows 9 is released across every type element and unifies the app ecosystem across smartphones, tablets, and desktops, then Microsoft actually stands a opportunity against Google and Apple.
　　Ever because Windows Telephone 7 limped out the gate in 2010, after which the lackluster launch of Windows eight a year later, it has been clear that Microsoft has been moving to merge the touch, mobile, and desktop ecosystems. From an early date, Microsoft was speaking up how Windows 8′s Metro apps have been pretty much compatible with Windows Phone 7 - then, slightly later, Microsoft made a lot of noise about how Windows Telephone eight would use the same kernel and other low-level libraries as Windows 8. Most recently, with Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1, Microsoft will edge however closer to cross-platform compatibility having a shared app store.
　　More than the years, it appears just about each Microsoft vice president has discussed how Windows and Windows Phone apps are almost compatible - but, as evidenced by the slow development of Windows 8, Windows Telephone, and their respective ecosystems, almost compatible just isn’t fantastic enough. The thing is, absolutely everyone knows how amazing comprehensive cross-platform compatibility could be. Every person knows that it could be the magic bullet that would quickly give Microsoft a possibility at competing against Apple and Google. That is why Microsoft keeps teasing us, keeps spinning a yarn, to assure absolutely everyone - buyers, developers, and tech pundits - that it knows how critical a unified ecosystem is.
　　With Windows 9, I bet that Bill Gates’ 1980s dream of Windows Everywhere will ultimately come to fruition. Barring a different civil war, I strongly count on that Windows 9 will run on smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops, and all the things else in in between, and developers might be in a position to write a single Windows app and have it run across each and every type issue.
　　Hopefully, Windows 9′s unified ecosystem will resemble iOS: You go to the new app shop (presumably getting debuted in Windows 8.1), then you are only shown the apps that should work effectively on the form issue of your present device. Developers will have the selection of being able to write one app that scales to different screen sizes/resolutions, or 1 app with numerous views/layouts that are optimized for each screen size/resolution - but the main factor is that the exact same code will perform on any Windows 9 device, since the underlying kernel/libraries/abstraction layers are the identical.
　　In one particular fell swoop, as an alternative to becoming coerced and cajoled by Microsoft into publishing apps for its distant-third platforms, the combined user bases and ecosystems will basically make Windows 9 a desirable platform that can compete with iOS and Android in terms of reach and money-making prospective.
　　But what about game consoles? Nicely, when it comes to sheer numbers, consoles are still modest fry; over their complete seven-year span, Microsoft and Sony have only sold about 160 million Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles combined. By comparison, analysts estimate that 700 million smartphones and around 400 million PCs had been shipped in 2012 alone. Still, even when the absolute numbers are fairly smaller, Microsoft knows complete effectively that the usefulness and desirability of a software program ecosystem grows exponentially using the addition of new type elements and use cases. Imagine in case you could get a single app on your Windows 9 smartphone, and then have it automatically installed on your Windows 9 desktop and Windows 9 game console, or have your gameplay videos automatically sync from your console to your smartphone and Computer - that’d be quite great, suitable?
　　The excellent news is that the Xbox A single already appears to be compatible with Windows eight apps, by virtue of operating a cut-down version of Windows eight for apps, alongside the Xbox OS for games. Microsoft hasn’t confirmed that you will be capable of run Windows eight apps directly around the Xbox 1, but we’d be shocked if that wasn’t the case. In the very least, there will possibly be an update towards the Xbox One - perhaps around the exact same time because the unified Windows eight and WP8 app retailer is launched - that brings Windows 8 apps for the Xbox 1. Then, by the time Windows 9 rolls around for smartphones/tablets/PCs, we should really have apps that run across the whole gamut of devices, like consoles.
　　If Microsoft had unified its mobile device, Pc, and console operating systems last year, with the release of Windows eight, then I feel the consumer computing landscape could be really, very various. Microsoft would most likely be on top and calling the shots, as an alternative to trailing behind the big boys, squeaking tremulously for focus and not getting it. As a consequence of prevarication, internal strife, gutless equivocation, and most likely a slew of other factors that we’ll never get towards the bottom of, Microsoft has had 3 of its weakest OS releases in history: Windows Phone 7 and eight, and Windows 8.
　　If Windows 9 is released subsequent year, Microsoft may stand a possibility, especially if Windows 8.1 and the acquisition of Nokia can bolster its mobile efforts within the meantime. No matter if such a utopian unified platform can unseat iOS and Android, though, remains to become observed. Apple and Google aren’t standing nonetheless, and continue to solidify their marketplace share regardless of Microsoft’s ideal efforts to remain relevant. If Windows 9 does not come out within the next 12 months, or if Microsoft does not have some other super-secret plan up its sleeve, the company’s future will creep ever closer towards total untenability.