[Gideon7]

Here is what Microsoft should have done after Windows 7:

1. Integrate the Hyper-V virtual machine environment and make it seamless. Add the option to run every app inside its own VM for display on the shared desktop. This would contain viruses and make it easy to reset/rollback app settings and run untrusted apps. (And for step 2 below.)
    
2. Add the ability to run Android apps inside a window on the desktop. Android is based on Linux, which means it is covered by the GPL so Google must make source code public. Create an Android subsystem. (Windows already supports a Unix subsystem.) Use the integrated Hyper-V in step 1 to run Android apps. (Remember, all Android apps are written in Java bytecode, not MIPS assembly.) Let Microsoft's uber expert compilers team that created the MSIL engine use their expertise to create a Java bytecode interpreter/translator to beat the pants off Dalvik.
    
3. Embrace and extend Android. Add new features that Google refuses to provide (like the ability to write to an SD card). The embrace-and-extend tactic was used successfully on Mozilla to create Internet Explorer 4/5/6, allowing Microsoft to dominate the Web browser market for almost ten years.
    
4. Coax back software developers to make them want to write for Windows again. Unlock WinRT to allow apps that aren't marketed in the Microsoft Store to be downloaded and installed at the user's discretion. The Microsoft Store is a flop. It just ghetto-izes WinRT and is a major hassle for developers. Android allows you to check a box to allow installing of apps outside of the Google Play Store. Windows should too. (Remember, the Hyper-V VM box keeps everything safe.)
    
5. Stop obsessing on Apple and trying to imitate them. The Microsoft Store and its 30% rake are mimicking the worst aspects of Apple. You can't out-Apple Apple. But you can out-Google Google, at least in the Android world.
    
6. Create something like Visual Basic for laypeople to write simple Android-style apps without knowing anything about computer programming. Android's weakness is its lack of a simple way to write quickie little programs or to script of routine tasks. Visual Basic was wildly popular because it was so simple and flexible, and it allowed you to bolt in 3rd party add-ons (.OCXs) to do just about anything. The Microsoft Store eco-system prevents anything like that every app is self-contained and digitally signed. Get away from that kind of thinking. Windows strength was its openness and flexibility.
    
7. Do things that Apple doesn't do, and use that in your marketing campaign: Apple is prison. Windows is freedom. Write ads bashing Apple's closed locked-in nature.
    

Basically, Microsoft needs to stop obsessing about Apple and instead latch on to Android.

[kevkrom]

Android is based on Linux, which means it is covered by the GPL so Google must make source code public.

I like your overall list, just a quibble on this point. The GPL would require Google to provide any source code directly based on GPL code, including modification, but would not require the release of any code for custom software, even if that software uses GPL or LGPL code. It's only when you fork/modify the GPL code that you get "infected" by the "GPL virus".

I have yet to see a good emulator for Android, and given how much more powerful a PC or Mac is compared to a mobile device, a good emulator (or VM) should be easy to manage from a performance standpoint.

[GeronL]

My nephew’s cheapo tablet was so slow I went to a website that makes quickie apps and created a browser that just does Free Republic. lol