Expert views on latest Microsoft moves

The keynote address at Microsoft’s annual developer conference, Build, has given developers and consumers a closer look at how the company sees their products and the technology industry moving forward.

Once the firm’s chief executive Satya Nadella had closed the keynote, technology experts were quick to offer their view on the latest round of announcements, which focused heavily on the forthcoming Windows 10.

Geoff Blaber, vice president of industry analysts CCS Insight said: “The decision to embrace Android and iOS applications is an imperfect solution to an undesirable problem. Nonetheless, it1s a necessary move to attract developers otherwise lost to Apple and Google.

“Microsoft is turning Office into a platform with significant extensibility for developers. This is a smart move and a critical response to the growth of free offerings from Apple and Google.”

Rik Henderson, senior news editor at technology news site Pocket-lint.com was impressed with the latest demonstration of HoloLens.

“Microsoft’s main keynote at this year’s Build conference was very developer-centric, as can be expected, and could be seen as a disappointment considering no new hardware was announced, but the HoloLens demonstrations more than made up for that,” he said.

“Seeing the potential for the company’s augmented reality system played out in front of us almost illustrates how limited is the scope of Oculus Rift, Google Glass and other VR or AR headsets. It’s early days, but there is a palpable feeling that we might have witnessed the future.”

Marc McLaren, web editor at gadget site Stuff.tv was impressed with HoloLens.

“Microsoft’s made some great strides lately towards catching up with Apple and Google, but tonight was more like a massive leap forward.

“The most exciting stuff by far was what we saw of its virtual reality headset HoloLens and its new Windows Holographic software. We’ve seen some impressive VR demos recently from the likes of Oculus and HTC Vive but HoloLens could blow them away.

“But although HoloLens was the most obviously impressive thing on show, Microsoft’s move to make it far easier for developers to port Android and iOS apps to Windows is likely to be a bigger deal in the short term.

“Windows has long lagged behind its rivals for decent apps, but if developers can now rework iOS and Android apps for Windows with the minimum of fuss, it could breathe new life into the platform.

“Microsoft still has some way to go to catch up with Apple and Google, but right now it’s making all the right moves.”