Windows 11 now supports Android. Can the Surface tablet change the iPad's monopoly?

Last week, a big event happened in the technology circle: Microsoft released the latest version of the Windows operating system, Windows 11. As the world's most popular desktop operating system, the biggest highlight of this major version update of Windows after six years is that it supports running Android applications.

After the tragic failure of Windows Phone, when the outside world thought that Microsoft had given up on the mobile market, it did not expect that it would make a comeback in this "curve-saving" way.

This way of running mobile apps directly on a computer is hard not to remind people of Apple. In addition to its powerful computing and battery life, the M1 chip announced last year also has a major feature of supporting running mobile phone and tablet apps directly on computers. Therefore, this update of Windows 11 is naturally seen as a response to Apple.

Many people believe that Microsoft’s move is to build an “ecosystem” that can compete with Apple, but an ecosystem is not built in a day. In the short term, Windows 11 is most likely to rapidly promote the development of the Windows tablet market represented by Surface.

Confusing operation logic and poor software adaptation - embarrassing Windows tablets

The positioning of Windows tablets in the market has always been vague. Take Microsoft's own Surface as an example: Microsoft has been trying to make it a high-end tablet and laptop dual-purpose computer, but it has neglected to polish the tablet mode of Windows 10. When you want to swipe the edge of the screen to call out the menu, it becomes a zoom window. The system animation and the tablet mode have not been specially changed. Even the success rate of clicking to close the window is not high...

These common problems reflect that Windows 10 in tablet mode only hopes that users use their fingers as a mouse, without optimizing the control logic for touch screens. For this reason, many users who have purchased Surface still connect a keyboard to use it as a laptop in most cases.

In terms of software adaptation, Windows tablets are also unsatisfactory. In the Surface camp, there are mainly x86 architecture products represented by Surface Pro 7 and ARM architecture products represented by Surface Pro X, but both products have their own problems.

Surface Pro 7 uses Intel processors, ranging from i3 to i7. Because it uses the same x86 architecture as desktop computers, Surface Pro 7 can run most Windows software, but it is also because of the x86 architecture that its battery life has become a serious problem. It can only play videos for 3.5 hours, which is not even comparable to tablets, and even mobile phones may not be able to compare.

It is precisely because of the awareness of the battery life problem that Microsoft launched the Surface Pro X with ARM architecture, but the problem is that the software that natively supports the ARM version of Windows 10 is very limited, and before this year, it can only be compatible with 32-bit x86 software through simulation. Nowadays, most software is 64-bit, so Surface Pro X has been in an embarrassing situation with no software available for a period of time.

Although the Surface Pro X finally added the function of simulating 64-bit software this year, the first generation of Surface Pro X was launched in 2019. The two-year window period is too long for electronic products. Apple can achieve seamless sharing of ARM version Mac and iPad software through unified development of Xcode, thus solving software needs.

At the same time, Windows tablets also have a common problem, that is, the Windows system requires a huge amount of storage space. Microsoft's official website states that the actual available disk space of the 128GB version of Surface Pro 7 is 88GB. In comparison, the actual available space of the 128GB version of iPad can exceed 100GB.

Theoretically, Windows tablets should be able to suppress iPad in both professionalism and entertainment by relying on more diverse applications and more convenient file management. But in reality, among the current Windows tablets, some have software but no battery life, and some have battery life but no software. The tablet mode of Windows 10 is also difficult to use, and even the price has no advantage. All these factors have made iPad the leader in the tablet market.

The establishment of Windows 11 software ecosystem: the key to Microsoft's comeback

Stimulated by the epidemic and other factors, global tablet shipments in the first quarter of this year increased by 55.2% year-on-year. Therefore, Microsoft will not and should not easily give up this fast-growing market. Windows 11 is Microsoft's first step in the tablet computer field.

First of all, the core software problem is addressed. Windows 11 has added the function of running Android software directly. To achieve this function, Microsoft used the Bridge technology developed by Intel to allow Windows computers to simulate running Android software, and it can be used on both Intel and AMD x86 architecture processors and Qualcomm Arm processors.

Such measures will undoubtedly benefit multiple parties. For developers, Windows 11 can provide an additional entry point for their apps without having to develop an additional version. For Microsoft itself, opening up the running of Android apps can directly increase its software lineup exponentially, especially attracting more users for products such as tablets.

For users, this can not only save the trouble of taking out mobile phones in some scenarios, but more importantly, it can greatly improve the interactivity between mobile phones and desktop products without large-scale replacement of devices.

In order to avoid making the same mistake as Surface Pro X in the ARM software ecosystem, Microsoft also launched ARM64EC, a new application installation interface for the ARM version of Windows 11, which can help developers port existing Windows applications to the ARM version of Windows. Currently, Microsoft's Office development team has applied ARM64EC to the 64-bit Office for ARM under development.

At the same time, Microsoft has revised the Microsoft App Store, where you can directly browse and install PWA software, UWP software, traditional Windows software, and Android software. At the same time, Microsoft has also adjusted the store's charging model. If developers use their own or third-party platforms to manage apps, Microsoft will not charge a penny. If they use the platform provided by Microsoft to manage apps, Microsoft will charge a commission of 12% to 15%, which is undoubtedly more attractive than the 30% of Apple's App Store.

From Windows Phone to Windows RT, the reason why Microsoft has stumbled on devices other than computers can be summarized as the lack of the necessary software ecosystem. Considering that one of the main features of the Windows system is the ability to run various software, this is really ironic.

In Windows 11, whether it is running Android apps, the revision of the app store, or the optimization for the ARM architecture, it can be seen that Microsoft is trying its best to avoid repeating the same mistakes, and these features make Windows 11 extremely friendly to devices such as tablets. It is not difficult to see that Microsoft is determined to occupy a place in the tablet market through Windows 11.

Will your next tablet be a Surface?

In addition to the software ecosystem, Microsoft has also learned many lessons from Windows 10 tablet mode and made many optimizations on Windows 11.

The first is operation. Windows 11 has increased the touch hotspot area and added gestures such as three-finger switching applications and four-finger switching virtual desktops. It also improved the user experience of the stylus, making the writing experience more realistic through a series of vibration and sound feedback.

The split-screen mode commonly used on tablets has also been optimized on Windows 11. In addition to providing a variety of arrangement methods, it also adds the function of automatically arranging applications up and down in portrait mode, making the operation more intuitive.

Windows 11 also redesigned the virtual keyboard to make its input method and style closer to mobile phones, and support common functions of mobile phone input methods such as sliding input and moving the cursor with the space bar. This also shows that Microsoft hopes to reduce the dependence of tablet users on the keyboard through Windows 11.

If these functions can be fully utilized on Windows tablets, the advantages of Windows system in software and file management will be magnified, and the iPad will then face the strongest opponent it has ever encountered in the tablet market since its birth. In addition, old PC manufacturers such as Lenovo have also launched their own tablet products. They are most likely to be the first to abandon Android and switch to the Windows camp that they are more familiar with. The participation of more industry giants will also make the tablet market truly flourish, and consumers will have more opportunities to choose a product that suits them best.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.