Thinking About the Future of UWP, Windows Store, and Windows 10 S (Premium)

While I was in Haarlem last week, someone asked me about the future of UWP and Store apps. This is a topic I think about all the time, as it turns out. But I've been obsessing over this more than usual over the past few days.

And I think I've finally found an answer that makes sense.

There's a lot of background to understand before we can proceed, however. So I'll try to be as brief as possible as we've certainly covered this ground a lot in the past already. But it's important to understand the full story.

As you may recall, Microsoft hasn't created a successful new client platform in over 20 years. I've often pegged this malady to the overly-lengthy Longhorn development period, which drew to a close on the eve of modern smartphone era with the introduction of the iPhone.

In these two products---Longhorn/Windows Vista and the iPhone---we can clearly see the biggest transition that has ever gripped our industry, as we moved from traditional PC form factors and Microsoft dominance to a mobile first, cloud first world in which other hardware platforms---Android and iOS---reign supreme and Microsoft plays but a part.

That Microsoft's most ardent fans are still struggling with this reality is another story. More relevant is that Microsoft, of course, struggled to accept this change as well. But the software giant has done a fairly amazing job of adapting over time, first under Steve Ballmer, and then with Satya Nadella, to the new normal. And the Microsoft of today is nothing like the backwards-facing company that created Longhorn.

But transitions are, well, transitions. Not hard stops. The successful products of the past don't just disappear overnight. They adapt and evolve. I often use Office as the poster child of this change: Today, Office has brought its traditional applications and server products to the cloud with Office 365, and it has evolved with new mobile and web apps that meet the needs of today, not the norms of the past. Windows Server is making a similar transition thanks to the Azure family of products and services.

Windows has proven a bit trickier, however. On the one hand, Microsoft moved quickly to adapt its once-core product line to the touch-first mobile world. But on the other, it did so with Windows 8, a horribly flawed design that disrespected the user base and their needs at exactly the wrong time in history.

And then there's Windows phone, which seemed like a great idea even though it was ultimately proven to be half-baked and poorly designed, and was released years too late. Here we see the death throes of a once-proud platform maker. It was hard to watch.

Microsoft's mobile stumbles were so bad, in fact, that it will be paying for those mistakes for years to come. But let's be fair: Two out of three ain't bad, and with Azure and Office 365, we do see the real future of the company, as a cloud services company.

But again, transitions are not hard stops. Microsoft can't just declare tha...

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