Microsoft dismisses Android threat

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 4 Jun 2009 at 16:24

Microsoft has dismissed the threat of Android on netbooks, claiming compatibility issues will hinder its uptake.

"I'm somewhat sceptical that consumers will begin running to Android right now. You'll still want your printer to work, you'll still want your software to work," Microsoft's corporate vice-president Steve Guggenheimer told delegates at the Computex conference.

"There's a lack of a complete ecosystem around Android... We sort of learnt in the last year that if it looks like a PC and acts like a PC, people want the features and benefits of a PC."

His comments come after Acer became the first company to announce it would sell a PC running on Android, a move that could threaten Microsoft's stranglehold on the PC operating system market.

Guggenheimer was also bullish about Windows 7's compatibility: "Vista had some issues at the start because we were starting from a new core. This time, any computer that works with Vista will work with Windows 7."