Android’s Worst Nightmare: Microsoft Resurgent

The Register’s Matt Asay suggests that Microsoft, lost in the mobile woods for so long, may have finally found a way back, and despite some problems seems to be on the right track with Windows 8 for tablets, not to mention the long-awaited Mango release for smartphones. However, he says Microsoft’s potential resurgence may have as much to do with Google’s Android problems as it does Microsoft’s improved sense of style, and perhaps not surprisingly, Microsoft is the cause of some of those Android problems.

Asay says he’s spent time using Windows 8 on the Samsung tablets handed out at Build, and it’s very slick — “until you inadvertently allow the non-Metro, retro Windows UI to rear its ugly head.”

Asay expresses hope that Microsoft will come to understand that he and those like-minded “don’t want to see the traditional Windows interface. Ever. Again.”

However, I think he’s missing the point that for a large cohort of content producers and power-users, the optional availability of the traditional Windows interface is one of the most appealing factors of Windows 8. Yes, it’s undeniably ugly, but it’s a lot more functional when you need to get your work done efficiently than pawing at a touchscreen, and having dual UI modes in one OS rather than forcing everyone into using swipes and gestures makes Windows 8 arguably a more attractive prospect than the direction Apple seems to be going with OS X 10.7 Lion.