Windows 8 is critical to Microsoft Investors pay close attention to

According to foreign media reports, when Microsoft released its third-quarter earnings report on Thursday, investors will pay close attention to the Windows 8 operating system, which is vital to the future of the company.

For the past 2 years, Microsoft has been developing Windows 8, which will be the first version of Windows that runs on both the desktop and the tablet. Microsoft is finalizing Windows 8 for the final release. Vendors are expected to launch devices running Windows 8 in October or November.

Windows 8 is the most promising Microsoft product to compete with Apple iOS and Google Android. At present, Microsoft has almost not entered the tablet market. Market research firm Gartner expects global tablet sales to double to 118.9 million units this year. The Apple iPad’s share of the tablet market will be slightly less than two-thirds, and Android is close to one-third.

The pace of Microsoft's niche tablet market share will be quite slow. Gartner analyst Carlolina. Carolina Milanesi expects Windows 8 to have a 4% share of the tablet market by the end of the year.

However, for Microsoft looking to make up for the losses caused by the PC sales downturn, Entering the tablet market is crucial. In the second quarter, Microsoft Windows business revenue fell 6.3% year-on-year to $4.7 billion.

The capital market also values ​​Windows 8. Nomura Securities analyst Rick. Rick Sherlund said that under the launch of a number of new products this year, Microsoft's share price has risen by 20% this year. Schellend expects that Microsoft plans to release Windows Server 2012 and the new version of Office this year. Strong performance.

Microsoft said on Monday that it will simplify the Windows product line and release only three versions of Windows 8 & mdash; — Windows 8 for most consumers, Windows 8 for professionals and business users Version, Windows RT pre-installed on the tablet. It is not clear whether Microsoft will let Windows 8 log on to the smartphone.

Since the developer preview was released in September last year and the consumer preview version was released in February this year, Windows 8 has received wide acclaim, including the new version of IE browser, cloud storage, and users who can log in once. A service for accessing email, address books, and documents on Windows computers and mobile devices.

Like Apple and Google, Microsoft is also eyeing app developers. In order to attract a new generation of developers, Microsoft has increased the number of programming languages ​​that can be used to write Windows 8 software, which helps Windows 8 avoid the lack of application like Windows Phone 7. Despite widespread acclaim, Windows Phone 7 is on the market.

To attract developers, Microsoft offers developers a higher share than Apple and Google. For Windows Store apps with revenues of more than $25,000, the developer’s share will be increased to 80%.

The startup Slacker marketing head Jonathan. Jonathan Sasse said that Microsoft also allows developers to work with users in a more liberal way. Users who download the Slacker Radio app on a Windows device can pay by credit card or mobile carrier. iPhone users can only pay for Apple iTunes, which increases the cost of Slacker. Sass said, "We have higher profit margins than Windows Phone users through Windows Phone users. It is expected that Windows 8 tablet users will bring comparable returns to Windows Phone users.

Microsoft's strategy seems to work. Development tool maker Appcelerator survey of 300,000 customers in January showed that 66% of respondents have or plan to develop Android applications, 88% for Apple iOS and 37% for Windows 8. Appcelerator mobile department is high Mike. Mike King said that it is surprising that so many developers are willing to develop applications for an unreleased platform.