Microsoft Acquires Xamarin : Now Build Apps for Every OS

Microsoft had been laying the foundation from sometime by getting their apps to every platform, and todays acquisition of Xamarin makes total sense for the company.  Xamarin is a cross-platform development environment which allows users to develop apps for any platform. What this means to everybody? All you need to code using Visual Studio in languages like C#, and you can instantly port it to Android, and iOS. This is exactly the opposite of the bridges where Microsoft wanted developers from other platforms to come to Windows. Microsoft now plans to take the war to the competition.

So how does Windows users actually gain for this? They don’t, but if you use Microsoft services, you don’t have to worry about platforms anymore. Microsoft is making that line go away, and thats their long term goal. Available on any platform, and with Xamarin, Microsoft will only need to develop for Windows 10, and port it to Android and iOS. The advantage of this is that they will be able to deliver consistent experience, and Windows 10 users won’t be left behind.

Xamarin has more than 15,000 customers in 120 countries, including more than one hundred Fortune 500 companies – and more than 1.3 million unique developers have taken advantage of their offering. Top enterprises such as Alaska Airlines, Coca-Cola Bottling, Thermo Fisher, Honeywell and JetBlue use Xamarin, as do gaming companies like SuperGiant Games and Gummy Drop. Through Xamarin Test Cloud, all types of mobile developers—C#, Objective-C, Java and hybrid app builders —can also test and improve the quality of apps using thousands of cloud-hosted phones and devices. Xamarin was recently named one of the top startups that help run the Internet.

We will see more details during Microsoft //Build conference coming up in a few weeks, followed by Xamarin Evolve in late April. More here