Swan Family Feeding

Born last spring, the two swans with a little gray in their feathers still are the cygnets ("swan babies"). Each year, the mother nests on the lake in back of me and spends several weeks there. On several years, the offspring did not survive. More recently, their success rate has been improving.

Microsoft Expands its Market

While awaiting the release of Windows 10, Microsoft ups the ante with the announcement of Office for Android. At the same time, the company is also aggressively pushing individual parts of MS Office products for Apple devices. Microsoft Word is now the top download on iTunes for iPhone and iPad. Free is the most powerful word in advertising. It worked to put Microsoft on the map and it is surprising competitors have not been able to take advantage of this niche. If Microsoft is smart, MS Office will also be included free initially on Windows 10. Although this may be a lucrative strategy, Microsoft has one more trick up its sleeve; the push for inexpensive smartphones.

Aside from extending its audience, the new Office products also provide greater compatibility and consistence. In the past, Office Mobile for iPhone was available but failed to produce the same user-experience even in the Office package. The revamped Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps now deliver a more consistent user-experience thus reducing the learning curve of Microsoft products dramatically on Apple and Android devices.

Also key to Microsoft's marketing plan is the introduction of cheaper smartphones. The Lumia 535 is packed with powerful features and costs only 110 euros (about $136). At that price, the phone provides a significant threat to the iPhone as consumers love Apple but price is an entirely different thing. Will this combined strategy and other efforts by Microsoft be enough to turn around the company? Only time will tell.