14 DAY TRIAL // There was a time when Microsoft was such a fierce rival to Apple and Canonical that many people described it as “the enemy,” with every company focusing exclusively on its products with no intention of adding interoperability with other solutions whatsoever.
Microsoft, or better said, the new Microsoft, does exactly the opposite thing these days and is now working with its rivals on making Windows 10 better in a way that almost nobody expected.
Both Apple and Canonical have agreed to support the Windows 10 push by bringing their flagship products in the Windows Store, most likely as part of deals whose details will never be public.
The day 2 keynote at Microsoft’s Build conference thus witnessed two major announcements: the arrival of Apple’s iTunes in the Windows Store, and Ubuntu, SUSE, and Fedora all doing the same thing, with the last two also becoming available in the Windows Subsystem for Linux.
Basically, iTunes will allow users to manage and control their iPhones with a Windows Store app, while the Ubuntu version published in the Store will make it possible to install this Linux distro and run it in a virtualized environment side by side with Windows apps.
While many people believe that Windows Store apps are still worth nothing because nobody uses them, that’s entirely wrong, and according to Microsoft’s new strategy, they are actually playing a critical role.
The Windows 10 S push
The Redmond-based software giant has recently launched Windows 10 S, a new version of Windows 10 that’s limited to Windows Store apps, so Win32 software cannot be installed here. While at first glance it all seems to be a successor to Windows RT, Windows 10 S has many more chances to succeed, especially because Microsoft is pushing it in the education sector and is working with partners on bringing cheap devices to the market to support the adoption among educators.
Since Windows 10 S has a huge opportunity of becoming a widely adopted operating system, neither Canonical nor Apple wanted to be late to this party, so by making their solutions available in the Windows Store, they make sure whoever uses a device powered by Windows 10 S will have their apps too.
For Apple, the Store version of iTunes is primarily aimed at students buying Windows 10 S. Students have iPhones, and with Windows 10 S, they need a way to manage their devices. For Canonical, the Windows Store version of Ubuntu guarantees that it’s part of the education party too, as educators are very likely to go for Windows 10 S as well as part of Microsoft’s push.
Without a doubt, not many people could see this coming, but it goes without saying that Microsoft has changed a lot since Satya Nadella replaced Steve Ballmer at the helm of the company. And truth be told, it’s hard to resist the new Microsoft, simply because it appears to do everything right.