[crag]

What? MS lost to linux? The server (enterprise) market is the ONLY area where linux competes head-to-head with MS (or anyone really). And even in Enterprise there are plenty of MS shops.

If you bring up the fabled "linux desktop" I'm gonna start laughing. Though I am impressed at what the folks at Ubuntu are doing.

Also, when the iphone was first released Apple had no developer kit (API's). You could download guidelines on how to write a proper web app for the phone. But developers barked (and why not - look at the result) and here we are.

Actually Apple sort of fell into the app markets. They got damn lucky. Of if you want to believe that Steve Job's is divine, he's manipulated the whole transition from web app => dev kit => app store.

I'm glad to see us move fill circle. But you know we haven't. You could always design specific web apps for ios. Just log into the (free) Safari dev center and download the guild lines. How do you think smaller companies who can't afford a distribution agreement with Apple (did you know you can privately distribute your own apps? Of course you have to pay.. ;) ) did it? We wrote the apps in html5/js/css3 (based specifically on Safari) and host them on our own network (intranet & vpn).

[dstein]

Microsoft long ago lost the mindset of developers. It's been a long time since I've met someone doing Windows-desktop software. All innovation appears to be happening outside of Microsoft technologies. MS fought for years (using IE) to make it as difficult as possible to build web applications and I'll spit up my milk if developers fall for it again by developing HTML/JS-based Windows 8 apps.

[crag]

Ok I agree with that. Developers aren't doing any "new" development on Windows. It's all maintenance and release "upgrades" to generate revenue. And MS itself is doing this too (look at Office).

[Steko]

"The server (enterprise) market is the ONLY area where linux competes head-to-head with MS (or anyone really)."

Linux as Android is killing MS in mobile.