[Zokunei]

It would be nice to see Windows either eliminated or made usable. I don't know how anyone can take Chromebooks seriously though. As far as I know Windows phones and tablets aren't very popular, so I don't see how this would help them beat Android.

[bigboyz]

No single cell phone offering has beaten the iPhone to date as for sales and profit. So, what exactly would they come together for? Oh yeah, the FaceBook phone that 3 people bought and 2 people returned?? hahaha! Come on man! Thats just crazy talk. Windows is not even considered a player in the mobile world. Apple and Android run the ecosystem at this time. Why would that change when they both offer upgrades yearly? This is not BB any longer. No one thinks they can offer the same thing for 10 years and win haha!

[jigar7]

Now this should never happen... not gonna be good for consumers all around the globe... no competition = monopoly = fu**ing expensive products!!
And what competition?! Windows is gonna be famous for gaming and the softwre support it has.... I've never seen a successful OS release from google... and i doubt gaming studios would want to recode their games for another new OS... already they are having difficulty keeping up with... XONE/PS4/PS3/Xbox 360/PC... and mac to a certain extent...

[jaredb03]

This will never happen. It would be a monopoly and shutdown before it got started.

[King_O_Hill]

How is this a monopoly?

So MS & Apple are the only 2 companies that make on OS?

Ever heard of Unix, Linux & HP-UX to name a few.

[spoon]

Now this should never happen... not gonna be good for consumers all around the globe... no competition = monopoly = fu**ing expensive products!!
And what competition?! Windows is gonna be famous for gaming and the softwre support it has.... I've never seen a successful OS release from google... and i doubt gaming studios would want to recode their games for another new OS... already they are having difficulty keeping up with... XONE/PS4/PS3/Xbox 360/PC... and mac to a certain extent...

I don't know.. Android, Google's mobile OS, is pretty darn successful if you ask me. Chromium OS is still pretty new, but it has a lot of room for growth and potential.

With Valve's announcement of SteamOS, based on the Linux kernel, that whole mindset of Window's only for games could drastically change the whole industry.

With all that competition, I can see companies merging eventually.

[BhadKarma]

I think it could be smart... The windows tablet isn't bad.... But I prefer apple products (except desktop)

[eswick]

This is the most outrageous thing I've ever heard. Microsoft and Apple will never merge. Apple focuses on quality, Microsoft focuses on cost (cheapness). Keith Fitz-Gerald may as well quit his job, because he's garbage at it.

Steve Jobs is rolling over in his grave.

[ProfessorJack]

Windows operating systems are not cheep compared to apple a the price of
A bag if crisps win 8 win 8.1 there is no difference and around 150 each then we go win 9 soon apple shut MS down

[Quade321]

Analyst says this, analyst says that. Ever assume that "analysts" just say whatever the hell they want to stir up stupid stuff and get people to read their load of crap? It's pathetic. Would it be a smart move on the companies' parts? Yeah. To an extent. Is it ever gonna happen? Highly doubtful. Right now Microsoft is suing and bashing whoever they can to keep their head above the water in the mobile world, and they're starting to do that in the PC world. They've been screwing people as hard as they can since day one. But Apple and Microsoft disagree on many fundamental levels. So, if it's just for the money, they would probably do it in a heartbeat. If we want to hope that Apple actually does still care about the end user, it's not happening, ever. My wish for the future: Windows get destroyed by Linux. Boy that'd be a nice way to see Microsoft go down. Too bad that's pretty unlikely -_-

But yeah, this is dumb. Microsoft has nothing to offer Apple against Android. FaceBook is a social media site, what the hell does that have to do with anything?

Apple's desktops do pretty damn good as it is, and the operating system is actually useful and not crappy like Windows. And Google's foray into the desktop world has been more than pathetic, it's been humiliating. They might turn that around in the next few years.... It'd probably be an OS based on Linux. That'd actually be pretty cool, if it wasn't anything like their current excuse for an operating system.

Who knows, this is just one stupid analyst's stupid thoughts. And this comment just contains my stupid ideas and thoughts.

[Zokunei]

Windows operating systems are not cheep compared to apple a the price of
A bag if crisps win 8 win 8.1 there is no difference and around 150 each then we go win 9 soon apple shut MS down

Windows 8.1 is free for Windows 8 users. Windows is still ridiculously priced though. It shouldn't cost $150 for marginal updates, and there's no reason individual builders should have to pay that much while Microsoft makes millions off of the much larger manufacturer market.

[exNavy]

There's about as much chance of this happening as my site receiving two donations in the same month. Anyone know how I can get a job as an analyst? You spend your day spewing nonsense with no understanding of what you are talking about. Sounds like a dream job to me. Kinda sounds like most manager jobs too...

[Slim J]

The chances of Microsoft and Apple merging is about as likely as me farting a rainbow.

In other terms, it's never going to happen. For one, the OS's operate completely different. On Windows, you have the taskbar and start menu/screen to access programs while Mac you have the dock. WP operates with Metro and live tiles feeding information right in front of you (and may I say live tiles can be a bit chaotic) while iOS has a bit of a more organized interface and seems more collected and unified with everything.

Basically what I'm getting at is analyst can say all they want, but only time can tell what will happen. While both Microsoft and Apple are against Google (ex: iOS removing Google services off iOS and Microsoft "Scroogle" campaign), they are also against each other (ex: Surface commercials showing the iPad can't do that a Surface can). The only bashing campaign I can think of Apple did was the Mac vs. PC commercials from a few years back. Microsoft's recent advertisements by bashing (ex: Surface v. iPad, Windows Phones and people fighting over if iOS or Android is better) and Apple usually advertises the actual product without bashing anybody else, actually going over useful features it has that may win you over.

The two companies operate completely different and I honestly can't see a logical way they can merge. The closest they may get to merging is possibly cooperation to beat out a common enemy

[Rondon360]

We may finally see flash on Apple devices 👏👏👏👏

[jigar7]

How is this a monopoly?

So MS & Apple are the only 2 companies that make on OS?

Ever heard of Unix, Linux & HP-UX to name a few.

I mentioned Windows & OSX if merged would be a monopoly, keeping in mind their versatility... Windows can run most of the 3D/2D softwares and games as well... mac can run them too... although the game department is a lil weak on the OSX

With Unix/Linus/Ubuntu... gaming cannot be possible (unless dual booting it with windows/OSX)... it does run 2D/3D softwares though... but yeah... majority home PCs consists of MS & Mac OS... if you find any other OS... it would be in dual boot or on a separate PC

Very rarely would you find any consumer using only Linux/Unix/Ubuntu

[politicalslug]

It's a monopoly because chrome os, Unix, and Linux have effectively zero marketshare in the consumer market, thus are NOT viable alternatives. This wouldn't get through either the DOJ or the EU review process.

[tongxinshe]

No one realize that Android can eventually invade the PC market? It's totally possible after 5 years. That's why Apple and Microsoft have to work very very closely together if they want to still SURVIVE.