Users choose a platform/OS based on the applications they want to run. Making it easier to get developers on board results in more applications being available. Users will go where the applications are, and the applications will be where the developers are.
That worked for the desktop market. But it worked because it was part of a three part strategy (stranglehold on hardware manufacturers, coupled with plug-and-play). The problem is that developer support alone, without the other two prongs, is not a valid strategy.
It might be easier to develop on 7 than elsewhere, but it is all but given that any app that appears on 7 will also appear on Droid and iPhone, regardless of the fact that development might be easier for some developers.
MS’ strategy can work, but only if the novel UI approach is adopted by users. If it isn’t, then the entire strategy crumbles, and they will have to start again.
True. Apple Software was so much easier, much more intuitive, and so consistent that key commands were easily remembered, because they were always the same, program to program.
But, vendors developed more applications for Windows, than A/OS. The rest is history.