CollinsApple’s iMessage conversation tool is one of the most effective ways to make you reconsider buying gadgets from other companies. However, if Apple changes its mind, Microsoft’s CEO says the business would “welcome” it on Windows 11.
In a video interview with the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella mentioned iMessage as an example of an Apple product that the company would welcome on the Windows platform.
“Anything Apple wants to do with Windows – whether it’s iTunes or iMessage or anything – we’d welcome it,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer remarked.
Microsoft’s rebranding of Windows as the most open of all digital platforms included this remark. Android apps downloaded from the Amazon App Store will run on Windows 11. Microsoft’s decision to move the Start Menu to the taskbar’s center may be interpreted as a metaphor for the company’s goal for Windows to serve as a neutral middle ground between Google’s and Apple’s competing ecosystems.
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“Overall, we want to ensure that our software works well on Apple devices,” Nadella continued. “Windows works well with any software, whether it comes from Google, Apple, Adobe, or anyone else.”
While that may be good branding for Windows 11, which will be released later in 2021, Nadella must realize the chances of Apple accepting his offer are slim.
Beautiful blue chat bubbles, stickers, and an ever-expanding list of chat options help to keep customers locked inside iMessage’s walled garden. It has its own App Store as well.
iMessage, on the other hand, is exclusively available on the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. There is no simple way to use iMessage on Windows or Android, except from sophisticated workarounds that necessitate utilizing a Mac as a server. If you switch platforms, you’ll appear as a dreaded green bubble on the devices of your Apple-owning friends.
Apple executive Phil Schiller confirmed the tactic in an email thread uncovered in the Apple-versus-Epic Games trial in 2016. In response to an Apple employee who stated that “iMessage is the #1 most difficult [reason] to leave the Apple universe app… iMessage amounts to major lock-in,” Schiller responded, “Moving iMessage to Android will hurt us more than assist us, as this email explains why.”
While that email was about Android rather than Windows, it wouldn’t be a huge jump to believe that the same logic would apply to Microsoft’s platform, which competes with Macs.
You shouldn’t expect iMessage to come to Windows or Android anytime soon unless Apple makes a significant shift in strategy, maybe in reaction to government antitrust threats. However, if Apple changes its mind, Microsoft is said to be ready to bring out the red carpet.
Collins