Last week, the two companies buried the hatchet ending the most prominent Android patent dispute between them. They both finally agreed to drop all lawsuits between each other, and agreed to cooperate for the benefit of the consumer. “Google and Microsoft have agreed to collaborate on certain patent matters and anticipate working together in other areas in the future to benefit our customers,” both companies said in a joint statement. In spite of the great popularity of service such as Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, Hangouts and more, Windows Phone users have had to make do with either unofficial third party apps or use alternatives due to Google’s persistence that Windows Phone’s marketshare is not large enough to justify the development of apps for the platform. Of course, this decision could also be instigated by the company trying to restrain the growth of Microsoft’s ambitious platform. The fact is that most of the Google services in some form or another are already available on the desktop. According to an Arabic site, it claims that Microsoft’s announcement is specific to the mobile OS, and it did not provide details as to whether this would be Windows 10 or Windows 10 Mobile. Further, the announcement is also directing to the store, given Microsoft’s push for the Universal Windows Platform. If Google brings its apps to the desktop Store, it is likely that they will be Universal Apps and, hence, also be operational on the phone. In recent years, Microsoft has gone from a company trying to put an end to the competition, to a company trying to make as many friends as possible. The Surface team is sponsoring the Adobe MAX conference. Microsoft introduced its Office offering for the iPad Pro, as well as its partnership with Apple in the enterprise. Microsoft is open sourcing several of its most prized projects, and is now willing to make peace with Google. This news might seem a little difficult to swallow considering the tumultuous history between the two tech giants, however, the company’s push toward being more platform agnostic under its new CEO Satya Nadella is certainly a positive move.
