You are probably aware that Oracle is suing Google over claims of patent infringement in the Android operating system to do with Java, while Google naturally rebuts the patent infringement claims on the basis of Android not using Java but a Java compatible tech known as Dalvik.
Well according to an article over on PC World by Preston Gralla of Computer World, while Google is busying themselves with litigation, Microsoft has a change of making “inroads” in the mobile market. The article states that no matter what the outcome of the suit, it hurts Google and helps Microsoft.
In the mobile market Android has jumped in leads and bounds to 17.2 percent of the market, while Windows Mobile has slumped and dropped down to just 5 percent of the market. Android has been adopted by numerous mobile phone makers, but apparently Al Hilwa, an analyst for IDC told Computerworld that this lawsuit may scare off those phone makers.
Apparently said mobile phone makers could easily shift towards Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 when the new OS starts shipping later in the year and help Microsoft increase their diminishing market share, and with Oracle becoming public enemy number one in the open source community, this also helps Microsoft.
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols of Computerworld says that “”If I were Google or any other company that has shipped Java spins-offs, I’d be worried. I have a sinking feeling that patent cases, such as this one, are going to be far more troublesome for Linux and open source than any of the bogus SCO copyright claims were…This does not bode well for free and open-source software.”
So the Oracle lawsuit no matter how it turns out looks to be bad news for Google and Android while is could signal a stream of good fortune and favour for Microsoft and their Windows Phone 7.