Microsoft in a big move has announced to offer Microsoft Windows free for devices. The software company’s move is directed towards posing a challenge to Google’s android and Apple’s iOS. Microsoft in its announcement has said that any devices with screen lesser than 9 inch can use their operating system. Google’s android OS is free to use and is the main reason behind the drop in cell phone prices. The Operating System Development cost for small phone makers went down after introduction of Android OS.
Since then android took a big share of the mobile market. After the announcement by Microsoft the dynamics of the market are expected to change in favor of the Software Giant. Google android updates are free to download. On the same lines Microsoft wants to offer its Windows Operating System. At Build 2014 it announced free use of its Windows on a device having screen less than 9 inches.
Microsoft will offer to hardware partners $0 Windows with services including a one-year subscription to Office 365. With Windows 8.1 Update hardware partners can also more easily build lower-cost machines — such as devices with 1 GB of RAM and a 16GB hard disk drive — without sacrificing the experience customers expect. The combination of new efficiencies and innovations from Microsoft hardware partners means customers will be able to choose from a wider range of Windows devices, particularly budget-friendly notebooks and tablets.– Microsoft
To add to the freebies it has announced one year free subscription of Office 365 along with the windows devices. We could soon see cheaper windows phones. A low budget fully featured Windows phone will be something that market should be looking forward. By making such a move Microsoft has changed its strategic approach and looking forward to increase its market share in the hand held device market.
The release of Windows 8.1 update was intended towards building an OS to work with a 1Gb Ram and minimal storage drive. Thus making the operating system available for low configuration devices. This will bring the hardware cost of the device down. Thus bringing more competition in the hand held device market.
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