Changing Course: Does Mobility Mean Stability for Microsoft?

CEO Steve Ballmer of Microsoft has been bullish on - well, everything his company wants to do in the near future, from Windows phones and Surface tablets to ERP solutions and the Azure cloud. In some areas they're getting ahead, but that hasn't entirely offset the drop in PC sales and tech experts worry that Windows 8 business uptake won't just be slow; it might be abysmal.

Mobile is the new frontier, if recent tablet sales numbers are any indication, and it's hard to argue with the success of iPhones and Android devices. Even the Dynamics CRM and ERP (AX, GP, and NAV, specifically) teams have updated their own vision with plans for new Windows 8 interfaces that will translate more readily to multiple form factors and devices. 

But the Redmond company's aggressive mobile stance rubs some chip producers and product manufacturers the wrong way: is Ballmer trying to do too much, or is mobile the only way forward for Microsoft?

What's Ours is Yours - and Also Ours

This sums up the company's attitude when it comes to their Windows Surface and OS technology. While stalwarts Intel and AMD get access to Windows 8 on their x86 chips, mobile makers ARM, Nvidia and Texas Instruments get Windows RT, a stripped-down version of the operating system that uses less power and has fewer features.

According to an October 22^nd, 2012 article at the Wall Street Journal