Two senior executives at Microsoft have hinted at the possibility of the unification of different operating systems (OS) for PCs, phones and tablet devices into one common platform.
Windows Phone President Andy Lees has said at the company’s annual conference that there would not be different ecosystems for different devices in the future.
Speaking at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference Lees said, "At the core of the device itself it’s possible to be common across phones, PCs, and TVs, and even other things, because the price drops dramatically.
"Then it will be a single ecosystem. We won’t have an ecosystem for PCs, and an ecosystem for phones, one for tablets. They’ll all come together. And just look at the opportunity here."
The Register reported that Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner also hinted at the possibility.
He said, "Our future at Microsoft is the ability to unify the ecosystems and the user experiences. It’s the ability to enhance those ecosystems with great cloud services."
Turner added, "The next release of Windows running across x86, ARM, system-on-a-chip, the opportunity to put Windows with an OS that is scalable across those platforms exists in a new and profound way.
"And where we go in the future of unifying these ecosystems is certainly going to be an exciting ride, but a big, big step forward is about to get made with Windows 8, and this is really important for you to understand."
Turner referred to rumours that Apple is planning to unify its two platforms – Mac and iOS – in future.
Other reports aid that Microsoft is planning to release its Windows 8 aimed at PCs, phones and home console.
At the conference, Lees added, "The key important thing here, though, is the change that’s yet to happen, but it’s about to happen – the bringing together of these devices into a unified ecosystem. Because if it’s possible for the core of the device itself to be common across phones, PCs and TVs – and even other things because the price drops dramatically – then it will be a single ecosystem.
Windows has always spanned different PC form factors, and with Windows 8 we’re going to take this to a whole new level, including tablets… We are aiming to provide coherence and consistency across the PC, the phone, and the TV, particularly with Xbox."
