Not really. All they need to do is put a lot of the stuff back that they axed for no obvious reason. There's no reason why the Windows Phone/Xbox UI can't live as apps inside of the Windows environment besides Microsoft's insistence on not doing that.
Not what I was shooting for. What I meant here was Windows 7 sold, but 8 and 8.1 has not. MS needs to develop a new product that does sell.
I agree that they don't actually have to write a new OS, and I agree that 8.2 or 9 would be just fine if they were 7.1 (reskinned and incorporating the functional enhancements of 8.1).
Windows Phones are going for the same price or less than Android, why? Because Windows Phone is a far more efficient operating system that can run very well on weak hardware. Where Android continues to beat Windows Phone is the app store because a general reluctance by developers to develop for the Windows app store.
I'd conjecture that Windows phone was a success if they could move units. There's always the anecdotal example of some people you know, but the problem is that MS is so far behind Android and Apple that it isn't funny.
The people who don't sign a two year deal buy an Android, because a free OS means a cheaper phone is still capable. People without technical knowledge buy an iphone, because it's idiot resistant. The tiny remaining market is power users that can use Windows phone, and those that are more than happy with Android. Once the generation that grew up with Android devices have real money, why would they buy into a closed platform with arbitrary restrictions on functionality?
You have a point with development of software, but I have to ask if it's too little too late. My cell phone is crap when it comes to being a business device. No matter if they can get office running on it, typing up even a small document will be murderous. I can't see how in Hades you'd complete a complex e-mail, or even broach excel. Like it or not, if the devices can't run excel and e-mail competently then your phone isn't a productivity device. Your phone is an advanced pager. There's a reason that hundred plus dollar pagers died out when cell phones didn't require car batteries any longer.
Android acquiesced to this long ago. You can competently run numerous programs for fun, receive e-mail, and have some programs that are business oriented. That balance is what MS has missed. They sell us the "connected device of professional connectivity," but fail to realize that a cheap device with decent phone capabilities (that allows 90% of users to play games while on the crapper) is the largest market. Until that realization hits home Windows phone is a very expensive blunder.
This lack of focus on their core market, while trying to sell us whatever it is they farted out, is where MS is failing. They give us a phone, without real connectivity. They give us an OS, without really asking us how we feel about a unified UI. They give us a video game console, and sell it as a very expensive cable box and DVR. Their market dominance allows them to still turn a profit, yet this coasting will only last so long. We've seen them try to change directions, but they do so far too slowly and in the most PR negative way possible. That shows when they basically dismiss PC gaming, while pimping out their "unified home environment" based around a PC.
I for one hope Steam OS steals a large chunk of MS's business. Valve is too large to try underhanded business practices on, so MS will be forced to change. I look forward to this because whenever MS is forced to change by the outside world they generally put their best foot forward, barring the recent history of monopolistic business practices. It may be the shot to the arm which makes all of MS's products better.
