Re: "Nadella was right to pull it"
Let's see - it could turn out to have been one of the worst mistakes MS ever did.
That's never going to be provable, but I suspect your opinion is in the majority. MS has repeatedly underestimated markets and entered them too late: the internet itself and, of course, mobile. Yes, it was a player with Windows CE, but like so many other projects, it failed to devote sufficient resources or provide a clear strategy which led to Windows Mobile 6, 7, 8 and 10. Along the way various manufacturers demonstrated that you could make good hardware for the various systems but MS always seemed keener in simply trying to kill the competition than working with others.
Providing software only has worked well enough for Google and might have worked for Microsoft had they not repeatedly stiffed both manufacturers and developers. You rightly point out that OS/2 failed largely because there was no native OS/2 software. IBM looked at this and decided it wasn't worth the necessary investment because it could make more money doing other things. I wish they had pursued OS/2 but I understand why they didn't. And I think it's largely the same MS with Nadella. He gave Windows Mobile a stay of execution, saw it wasn't improved it and pulled it. It's his job to make calls like that.
If only Microsoft had made an earlier play for MS Office on IOS and Android it would have established itself more firmly as software developer and services provider.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
