You will probably find Microsoft with its serious face on when talking about its Windows Phone and Windows RT operating systems these days. Both platforms have decent traction behind them, but adoption from other hardware vendors is something that can be classified as lacking.
Nokia is soon to become part of Microsoft, and other device makers are showing increased interest in Windows 8.1 Pro on Intel Atom processors rather than Windows RT on ARM chips.
News first came out exactly one week back (last Friday) that Redmond was discussing with HTC the notion that the Taiwanese hardware maker install Windows Phone on its devices that come with Google’s Android as a dual boot option.
In fact, Microsoft was said to be willing to offer the mobile OS for free in this case.
And now according to this report, Redmond has expanded the circle to include both Samsung and Huawei, and wants both companies to install its operating systems for free on their devices, including smartphones and tablets.
The exact reaction from both companies is currently unknown at the moment.
But the good news is that Samsung is indeed working on a dual boot tablet that will come with both Android and Windows RT. Truth be told, this is a total win for users — there is immense value in having two operating systems instead of one.
Anyway, while this is a compellingly easy choice to make for end users, hardware vendors, however, have to take into consideration factors like expanded storage for two operating systems, a unified applications processor, and hardware components that support both Windows and Android.
Still, these are signs that Microsoft is at least very serious in mounting a real challenge in the mobile market, and if it comes in the form of sharing space with Android, so be it.
