Microsoft founder Bill Gates: No iPhone? “Nope, no iPhone.”
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Bill Gates is one of the few people on Earth who wouldn’t blink at the $999 cost of an iPhone X. But the Microsoft founder prefers the platform for the masses, Android.
No doubt, he’d prefer if Microsoft succeeded in bringing the Windows brand from desktop to mobile, but given the withering state of Windows Mobile, Gates can choose between an iPhone or a phone running Google’s mobile OS.
When asked by Fox New Sunday’s Chris Wallace what he thought of the new iPhone, Gates avoided answering the question but said, “I actually recently did switch to an Android phone with a lot of Microsoft software.”
He doesn’t say what phone he switched from, though it’s probably a Windows Phone or Windows Mobile device. Not surprisingly, he said he used all Windows-based PCs.
Wallace, who probably guessed Gates might have two phones, asked, “So, no iPhone?” Gates replied with a smirk, “Nope, no iPhone.”
The fact that Gates would switch to Android isn’t an unusual move. Many people who rely on Microsoft software use the mobile platform, as do many who enjoy greater freedom to customize their platform.
Fortunately for Gates and others loyal to Microsoft software, the company under CEO Satya Nadella has been building apps for Android at a frantic pace, giving them loads of options to give an Android phone a Microsoft experience.
Microsoft has so many apps on Google’s Play Store that it built an app just to discover other Microsoft apps for Android, including Cortana, Office, LinkedIn, Outlook, OnDrive, Skype, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, the Groove music app, and Minecraft.
Though as ZDNet’s sister site CNET reports, it would make sense for Gates to buy a phone available at the Microsoft Store, such as the Microsoft Edition of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus.