Android projected to top windows for OS dominance by 2016

I can believe that. Others have reported before that there will be 3 billion Android devices in use by 2016. By then I expect Android to be the #1 platform for developers, thanks to sheer numbers.

In 2001 I got a beta of the .NET Compact Framework on an HP PDA, linked through Bluetooth to an Ericsson GPRS-equipped handset.

In 2001, I was surfing the Web with a real browser and writing applications in a Java-like language using an IDE with powerful refactoring and debugging features.

In 2001, I had in my hands, and Microsoft had in their product line, all the basic ingredients of Android.

Between then and now, Microsoft failed to restructure Windows Mobile around .NET. Failed to make anything out of their purchase of Danger. Launched the Kin. And now may be too late with Windows 8, although Windows 8, the application technologies it contains, and the UX formerly known as Metro make it a worthy competitor. Imagine if it had 11 years of evolution and app development behind it.