Get # MICROSOFT's Journey: Soaring High with Hardware But Stumbling in Software

Microsoft’s rise in hardware innovation showed its technical team’s ability to move the technology needle and make the Surface range benchmark the pinnacle of Windows hardware. It seems that Microsoft’s story moves between two different tech worlds: one where Microsoft is clearly a hardware heavyweight; another where it is not software’s saviour but a software sore thumb, at least in its own native app development. All of this makes for a great story – the story of a hardware hero and a software heel in a tale of technical ambition and unrealised quests.

MICROSOFT's Mastery in Hardware Innovation

Pioneering Premium Windows Experiences with Surface

Since the first Surface debuted in 2013, the family of devices has continued to be a leader in the hardware design and functionality of the Windows platform, never compromising its quality. It’s not afraid to infuse the latest in design trends and features – from the new Windows 11 design language to the functionality of its Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs. no other products have come as close to hardware perfection, on par with Surface, which has been a launch pad for cutting-edge innovation in the space.

The Challenge of Software Cohesion

Microsoft's Missed Mark with Native UI Applications

Despite successes in the hardware domain, Microsoft’s software history paints a scene of inconsistency and app development drift away from native applications. The once-champion of UWP is now struggling to define its path forward with app development. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s own applications haven’t been updated to use WinUI yet, creating a fractured user experience for someone using Microsoft’s own devices and apps. It’s a missed opportunity to showcase the power of its products.

A Glaring Dissonance in First-party Applications

The Fall Short of Setting Industry Benchmarks

They also ideally show what good looks like: they should be a shining example of what developers can aim for. But apps such as Outlook, Clipchamp and others that use web technologies in their user interfaces instead of native frameworks detract from that premium user experience that Surface hardware promises. This mismatch between the quality of the hardware and that of the software, when Microsoft’s engineers are also ostensibly responsible for the code, is a massive shining missed opportunity for Microsoft to show what good could look like. Microsoft should have led by example and shown everyone what the potential of WinUI meant for native app development across the ecosystem.

The Imperative for Microsoft to Nurture Developer Engagement

Redefining Expectations with WinUI

Comparing Microsoft’s other products with those from companies like Apple and Google, however, illustrates that there is a different world of native app experiences that Microsoft ignores. If Microsoft wants to make WinUI attractive to developers, it must start by building more of its own apps natively. It’s hard to persuade developers to build native apps if they think WinUI is a dead-end. For Microsoft to succeed in its mission of providing a great Windows experience, it needs to back up its hardware prowess with a software development philosophy that better fits the world we live in.

Bridging the Hardware-Software Divide

Justifying Premium Hardware with Superior Software

The Surface devices are hardware that’s stylish, engineered and innovative in ways that almost nothing else is. The company needs to create a software ecosystem that matches and elevates the promise of hardware to new heights. For too long its range of applications has been a brick, holding back Microsoft’s promise of high quality that its hardware embodies. There’s still time for Microsoft to unify the two halves of its technological vision. But ad nauseam delays are no longer acceptable. This summer, finally, it must meld its software ambitions and hardware vision into one.

About Microsoft

At the end of this journey through the two techs of Microsoft – acknowledging software’s need for a renaissance while celebrating the company’s hardware innovations – we can see that it is a tale of ambition, evolution and constant evolution to be the best. It is a company that has had a huge impact on the world of technology, and is responsible for enabling technology to be a part of everyday life. It also pushes technology to the limit of what is humanly possible. What can we expect from Microsoft in the future? It is a challenging time for the company because the ‘two techs’ need to work together. Its ambition lies in hardware innovation, but it needs software to catch up to the same high standard. With a desire to grow and improve, Microsoft’s tale of two techs continues, and one day its hardware heroes and software sagas will walk side by side.