A new Love Story

Today we've seen the announcement of what probably will be the biggest tech news of the year, the deep partnership between Nokia and Microsoft.
There have been rumors all over the last months, rumors that have been growing so loud in the last days that made today's announcement rather predictable.

I think both parts have done a really wise decision, Nokia needs Microsoft to avoid becoming just a middle class manufacturer (it's pretty clear that the Symbian + Smartphone equation does not work), and Microsoft needs Nokia to become a player again in the Mobile market. Nokia has great hardware, Microsoft has great software, users and reviewers unanimously praise Windows Phone, but it's lacking support from manufacturers that have gone mad about Android (and I don't blame them).

The net is buzzing with articles and mixed opinions on this matter. What is pretty funny to me is reading the brainwashed opinions of open source fundamentalists (I love sharing knowledge with others, but if selling hardware or selling "administration services" is OK, what's the problem with selling Software?). Many of these zealots seem terribly upset and angry, and swear not to buy a new Nokia device again. They wonder why Nokia has chosen Windows Phone over Android, and well, I think it's such a stupid question that it can only be prompted by the mind dullness induced by fanaticism. Nokia business is based on differentiation, and Android means just the contrary, because becoming one more among the army of Android sellers would be an obvious dead end for Nokia.
Sure they are not going to be the only manufacturer using Windows Phone, but they'll be the main one, so for good part of the public Windows Phone and Nokia will be almost synonymous, same as it's been with Symbian (though until recently other manufacturers like Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola, Siemens... also used Symbian).

I've also read something that increases my contempt for Google. Yes, I know, this blog is hosted by Blogger... but my perception of Google has dramatically changed in the last year, from the "gmail heroes, cool employers" to the "Chrome OS, I own your life, I'm cool cause I'm opensource but in fact I'm fucking CLOSE, fight Microsoft by all means..." arrogant zealots category, and this sentence from Vic Gundrota, VP of Engineering at Google, is disgusting and clearly shows how arrogant these Google idiots are:
Two turkeys do not make an Eagle

Such a stupid comment deservers one reply like:
Arrogance, narcisism and "coolness" well could make vultures fly over Mountain View

As a developer with a special love for C# and .Net, these are incredibly good news. Windows Phone + Nokia mean millions of devices running Silverlight, and this will be an incredible boost to the .Net platform, a boost that will spread to other enviroments (desktop, server...)
Now that I intended to walk my first developer steps on the Android path, seems like a different path begins to shine :-)

There's a good interview on CNN with Ballmer and Elop.

On my side, all I can add is well done guys!!!