Microsoft has employed a “first and best on Windows” strategy until recently, delivering its apps on its own operating system way before it considered releasing them for the competitors’ OSs. Apparently, though, the Redmond giant has abandoned this policy lately, offering iOS and Android users the latest versions of its own Office software, but not those using Windows Phone 8.1, Tom Warren of The Verge writes.
Microsoft released Office for iPad this year long before it launched a touchscreen-optimized version of the productivity suite for Windows-based tablets. Recently it has also released a better version of its Office suite for the iPhone, way better than the one available for Windows Phone handsets. These users will be forced to wait until next year, when Windows 10 for desktops will be released, for a mobile Office suite with improved functionality. And this is unfair, Warren writes.
Skype is another example. Microsoft has released a better version of its communication program for the iPhone, along with a series of improvements deployed for the Android version of the software. Again, Windows Phone users were sidelined, left to wait for their turn. Both the iPhone and the Android version of the app is much better and more functional as the one available for Windows Phone – a quite sloppy piece of software, as your truly can also confirm. Currently both Skype for iPhone and Skype for Android offer better experience for their users than the Windows Phone version. So much about “first and best on Windows”… Warren mentions several other examples, most of them native Windows apps like OneNote, OneDrive, and even the Skype Qik, that was released for Windows Phone, but it lacks several useful features available for its Android and iPhone versions.
Microsoft’s intention to expand its products on today’s most popular operating systems is understandable, but leaves a bitter aftertaste in the mouths of Windows Phone users. Microsoft doesn’t currently have a new flagship for the holiday season, and the lack of software support also makes its devices less appealing. Let’s hope Microsoft does not abandon its own users in favor of its competitors, offering them what they need in due time…