Finally a Microsoft product that isn't stupidly handcuffed to their ecosystem. Microsoft has amazing engineers still, and they must be frustrated that they aren't allowed to produce the best device they can, regardless of os. I hope for their sake this thing does well.
So I guess I can finally talk about building the iOS version of this app back during the prototype phase. The team that built this was totally skunkworks and honestly seemed to care little about the OS it runs on. What they do care is that this device+app works as a good showcase for the Azure platform. they want part of the story to be that the data generated by this device is completely accessible to anyone who wants it, and their app is just the reference implementation.
COM is horrible to write code for (although not THAT bad), and is tricky to troubleshoot (hurray for TLBs and massive hex registry strings) but it is a very handy feature of the system!
Does anything exist on other platforms like Mac OSX and Linux? CORBA was written all over the place GNOME1 / 2 time as I recall but I don't actually know if anything like COM exists anywhere?
Gecko uses XPCOM extensively (though less than it used to). XPCOM is basically a cross-platform implementation of the same principles as Microsoft COM.
In particular, XPCOM allows easy binding with the Spidermonkey JS runtime so you can expose things to scripts.
But then again I use OneDrive to back up my photos natively on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. I use OneNote on all platforms. I use Microsoft Office on all platforms (including the web). I play Wordament on all platforms. I use Xbox Live Music (formerly Zune Pass) on all platforms.
How many Windows Phone apps does Google have? Zero. What about Apple? Zero. In fact, Google has even refused to allow Windows Phone to access Youtube and Maps on the web. They specifically blocked the user agent for their website.
But no, that one example from Microsoft is totally relevant. Their competitors are much more open.
> If you're using Windows Phone 8.1, ask Cortana to take notes or set reminders with your voice. She'll give you driving directions and keep you on top of traffic, sports, stocks, weather, and more. She is ready to help whenever you need it.
It sounds like Cortana only works with a Windows Phone though. However, it seems like this is mainly a fitness tracker with light smartwatch features on the side, so I'm not sure if I'd consider this a dealbreaker or anything.
I agree to the extend, that it sounds like Microsoft is in any way special here. Actually, for some time it's opening up pretty much. Apple is even worse, Google will certainly not support MS products in any way if they don't benefit massively.
It's important to understand that all companies are big machine-like systems that have only one purpose: Make as much money as possible. Microsoft have been (and Apple is still ... or is the Apple watch usable with Android?) trying to lock vendors in. Totally OK. Those tech companies are no better than Kellog's who is selling sweets to our kids as cereal. As we all love tech so much, we tend to forget :-)
