Microsoft released yesterday two new apps in an effort to make its presence felt by Android and iOS users, and to entice app developers to create Windows versions of their apps. However, they're not showing interest as of the moment.
Microsoft is preparing to conquer the multi-platform landscape by having computers and mobile devices use Windows 10. With their Continuum solution, this is going to be possible. The upcoming Lumia devices are part of the multi-platform approach.
The tech giant recently made available to Android and iOS phones the preview of the MS Office apps, with the full release expected later this year together with the PC version. The tablet version lets users do a fair amount of editing without a keyboard and mouse while the phone edition allows basic and quick edits. Microsoft is using the same editing interface at the bottom of the display, with options to easily change fonts and styling in Word. For Excel those options are designed for quick cell changes, and PowerPoint is largely optimized for simple changes to slide transitions. For file access and storage options, there's the Dropbox integration or the OneDrive cloud storage.
Windows Intune, a Microsoft cloud-based management solution for small and medium enterprises with 500 computers, is set to get an update as well. With it, the Intune will have new per-platform mobile device security policy templates and new Exchange ActiveSync policy template for Android, iOS, Windows, and Windows Phone. It will now also have the ability to deploy Google Play store apps that are required/mandatory to install on Android devices, among others.
However, a report indicates Android and iOS developers aren't jumping at the chance to make their apps available for Windows just yet especially with Windows 8.1 phone's lackluster performance still fresh in their minds.
Even with Microsoft providing tools to software developers to make it easier to design apps for Windows based on apps that run on Android or iOS, most of them believe it will be difficult to take iOS and Android apps to Windows.
"Windows phone will have to gain a significant share of the market before this becomes something that saves us time and/or money," said Fuzz Productions director Sean Orelli. The New York-based Fuzz Productions makes apps related to Citibank, the New York Post, and Conde Nast.
"We'd end up writing a whole bunch more code," to move over an Apple app that was tightly integrated with the device, said Smartsheet head Erik Rucker. Smartsheet makes an online tool to manage projects. He added they have no plans to make a Windows app.
"It can cost 50 percent or more of the cost to develop an app on one platform to port it to a new platform. So if Microsoft has a way for our customers to do it easily and cheaply, and if there's no serious performance or functionality impact, I think they'd have a lot of people wanting to do it," said General UI manager Jason Thane.
On the other hand, King.com's Candy Crush Saga was ported to the Windows platform with very few modifications. The game will be installed automatically with upgrades to the OS. With this development, it would be able to attract more apps to complement its Office, server software, and cloud computing services.
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