Things aren’t going well between the two companies. What began as a promising partnership in 2019 is falling apart six years later. Both companies have been looking for a path for some time. The breakup isn’t definitive, but the process is delicate and reveals the dirty laundry of their relationship.

Growing tension. According to The Wall Street Journal, “tensions are reaching a boiling point.” One factor contributing to the current situation is OpenAI’s intention to become a for-profit company. The existing agreement defining Microsoft’s stake in OpenAI remains a point of contention.

Microsoft wants more. The central debate concerns Microsoft’s stake in the future of OpenAI becoming a for-profit company. According to The Journal, Microsoft is asking for a larger stake than OpenAI is willing to give. If OpenAI doesn’t complete its conversion by the end of the year, it could lose $20 billion.

Dangerous accusations. Sources close to the companies claim that OpenAI executives have accused Microsoft of anti-competitive behavior during their business alliance. OpenAI alleges that Microsoft didn’t offer all its computing power, while Microsoft argues that OpenAI didn’t provide access to its most advanced models quickly enough.

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New partner. OpenAI soon began looking for new partners. It found one that has promised much more than Microsoft ever did. That partner is SoftBank, which will invest $40 billion in Sam Altman’s company and contribute to the massive Stargate project.

On one hand, they say one thing. In a joint statement quoted in The Journal, Microsoft and OpenAI officials said, “We have a long-term, productive partnership that has delivered amazing AI tools for everyone. Talks are ongoing and we are optimistic we will continue to build together for years to come.”

But on the other hand, they say something else. OpenAI intends to acquire WindSurf for $3 billion. However, the agreement with OpenAI indicates that Microsoft has access to all of OpenAI’s intellectual property. The problem is that OpenAI doesn’t want Microsoft to access WindSurf’s intellectual property. OpenAI already has GitHub Copilot and seems unwilling to let Microsoft use that acquisition to improve its platform.

Meanwhile, they’re competing more and more. Microsoft can access OpenAI’s models and makes money whenever someone uses ChatGPT. Altman’s company continues to benefit from Azure’s massive infrastructure and computing power. Yet both have been taking steps to decouple. Microsoft continues to work on its own AI models—Phi-4 continues to advance—and OpenAI seeks new partners. For example, OpenAI is partnering with Google to leverage its cloud infrastructure.

Image | Zac Wolff (Unsplash)

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You have probably seen news stories in recent months about the end of support for Windows 10. If your computer runs on that operating system, consider when to upgrade to Windows 11 or find an alternative. Sticking with an operating system without technical support is often seen as reckless. With good reason: You lose security patches, compatibility with new applications, and protection against threats.

However, not everyone seems concerned about staying up to date. The most unexpected example comes from a critical and sensitive sector: air traffic control in the U.S. Some control towers still rely on technologies from another era—the last century.

Chris Rocheleau, acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), confirmed this week in an appearance before the House Appropriations Committee that some control towers still use paper strips and floppy disks to coordinate flights. These technologies were introduced in the 1970s and are still in use today at some airports in the country.

NPR added fuel to the fire by claiming that some of these computers run Windows 95. While more modern than floppy disks, support for this system ended two decades ago. Microsoft stopped updating Windows 95 on December 31, 2001, and today offers no warranty or security support.

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An Obsolete Technology, but Still Functional

Why are they still in use? Because they work—and have worked for decades. Air traffic control systems must remain operational 24/7, and their historical reliability is precisely why no one has wanted to replace them entirely. However, that margin is running out.

New Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has signaled that modernizing the system is now a national priority. In his words, it’s the most important infrastructure project the country has had in decades. This statement echoes the growing concern within the industry. The call for sweeping reforms is growing louder, from air traffic controller unions to industry groups such as Modern Skies.

In March 2025, the Government Accountability Office published a report containing damning conclusions. Of the 138 systems that comprise the FAA’s infrastructure, the GAO classified 51 as unsustainable and 54 as potentially unsustainable. Many of these systems have been in service for over 30 years. Some for more than 60.

The report warns that these platforms are vulnerable not only to technical failures but also to increasing maintenance difficulty. Spare parts are no longer available, and technicians specializing in these systems are retiring. Temporary solutions like virtualization cannot always be applied in critical environments.

In light of this situation, the Department of Transportation launched an open call for private companies to submit proposals for next-generation technologies. In the meantime, the system continues to operate increasingly fragilely. Only time will tell if the leap to modern infrastructure will finally become a reality this time.

Image | Karl Callwood (Unsplash)

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In the tech sector, major companies have had notable rivalries vying for dominance. Examples include Intel and AMD, Sony and Nintendo, Nvidia and AMD, and naturally, Apple and Microsoft. Former CEOs Steve Jobs and Bill Gates represent that competition.

However, beyond the fierce business rivalry for market supremacy between PCs and Macs, Gates and Jobs developed a unique relationship founded on mutual respect and recognition.

Complementary Adversaries

Microsoft and Apple have always been rivals. However, the two companies have also collaborated on several occasions to develop products. Despite these collaborations, such as bringing Office to the Macintosh, the public perception of Jobs and Gates as irreconcilable enemies has persisted. This is far from true.

In an interview on Jay Shetty’s podcast, On Purpose, Gates revealed that Jobs and he were complementary, which enabled them to work together on several projects.

“I had a fantastic relationship with Steve. Early on, I got to do the [BASIC software] that went with every Apple II computer. I worked with both Jobs and [Steve] Wozniak to get that done. Then later, as Steve [had] a kind of small group inside Apple doing the Macintosh, he invited Microsoft to write application software (a spreadsheet, a word processor) for it… We worked very closely on that project, and he and I loved the fact that it ended up being a key Apple product,” Gates explained.

The Microsoft founder pointed out that although they were very competitive, they also admired each other. Jobs apparently felt the same way about Gates.

In a historic interview at the D5 Conference in 2007, The Wall Street Journal brought together Jobs and Gates on stage. During the conversation, Jobs quoted The Beatles’ song Two of Us, saying, “‘You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead,’ and that’s clearly true here.”

Gates explained the enduring and complex relationship between himself and Apple’s co-founder, stating that they were complementary to one another. “What he was super good at, I wasn’t good at,” Gates added.

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Without Apple and Microsoft, the Landscape of Computing Would Be Very Different

The visions of Microsoft and Apple regarding what a computer should be were notably distinct and reflected the strengths of their respective leaders. Apple prioritized design and efficiency, while Microsoft aimed to create a platform for its software, aspiring to bring a computer into every home.

“His taste in design and user interface, and even his intuition about people–he was a genius in a way you can’t explain. He didn’t look at the code and write code…,” Gates explained. However, as an engineer, Gates aimed to make that code “faster and smaller.”

Their rivalry and differing concepts of computing propelled the industry to its current level of maturity, with both companies reaching market capitalizations in the $3 trillion range. This success would likely have been unattainable without the competitive drive that characterized the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Gates acknowledged that he and Jobs believed computers would transform and enhance education. However, he also recognized that initiatives to improve computer usage weren’t always successful.

“I think both of us [were] thankful for what we’d been able to work on… We got more of a front row seat and helped build this thing,” Gates told Shetty, reflecting on his last conversations with Jobs before his death in 2011.

In their joint appearance in 2007, Jobs described his view of the Apple-Microsoft competition in the late 1990s: “What was clear was that if the game was a zero-sum game, where for Apple to win, Microsoft had to lose, then Apple was going to lose... A lot of people’s heads were still in that place at Apple and even in the customer base… It was clear that you didn’t have to play that game because Apple wasn’t going to beat Microsoft. Apple didn’t have to beat Microsoft. Apple had to remember who Apple was because it had forgotten.”

Image | David Geller

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When it comes to technological innovation, the true achievement lies not in creating a best-selling product, but in the ability to foresee what will become popular one or two decades down the line. This skill has allowed founders of major tech companies to amass some of the world’s greatest fortunes.

In May 2005, the iPod was selling exceptionally well and transforming the way we listen to music. However, in an interview with German outlet Frankfurter Allgemeine, Microsoft founder Bill Gates predicted that the iPod would become irrelevant in a few years.

At the time, many interpreted his statement as a reflection of Microsoft’s struggle to cope with the iPod’s success, but Gates turned out to be correct. The launch of the iPhone in 2007 and the rise of smartphones were significant factors that led to the decline of the iPod.

Bill Gates Saw It Coming, but Microsoft Failed to Capitalize on the Opportunity

In the interview, Gates shared insights about the technology sector. Two years before the launch of the first modern smartphone, he predicted how the phone market would evolve over the next two decades.

“[The phone market] is of absolute strategic importance… More and more functions will be integrated into a single device, and this requires software solutions… The prospect of having all relevant functions in a single device must be irresistible to consumers,” Gates said in 2005, according to a Google translation.

With this prediction, Gates accurately forecasted the developments that would shape the smartphone industry in the following years.

However, recognizing the trend isn’t enough. Companies also need to position themselves effectively to capitalize on these predictions. Under the leadership of CEO Steve Ballmer, Microsoft struggled to adopt the business model anticipated by the iPhone, which became a major shortcoming for the company.

Despite efforts with Windows Phone, Microsoft failed to capture the vast mobile software market that Gates had envisioned. Instead, Google and Apple dominated the market with their respective operating systems, leaving Microsoft with a small share and an operating system that failed to gain traction.

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Gates Predicted the Downfall of the iPod, Not the Success of the iPhone

“I don’t think the iPod’s success can be sustained in the long run, no matter how good Apple is. I think you can draw parallels with computers: Here, too, Apple was once extremely strong with its Macintosh and graphical user interface–much like the iPod is today–and then lost its position. Consumers want more options, and they will get them because there is so much innovation in this field,” Gates explained in the 2005 interview.

Again, he was completely right about what consumers would demand from mobile devices in the following decade, and the iPod was destined to fall short. However, despite Gates’ foresight, Microsoft failed to find its niche and leverage its strengths.

Meanwhile, Apple responded to customer demands by integrating iPod functions into the iPhone to make it more versatile. The tech giant also capitalized on the App Store to expand its functionalities by opening the door to millions of apps. As such, Apple effectively embraced the premise that Gates had accurately predicted.

Image | Steve Zheng

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This year marks the 50th anniversary of a historic moment. On April 4, 1975, two young men named Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded one of the world’s largest software empires: Microsoft. The fantastic thing after five decades is not that the company still exists, but that it remains so relevant. Here’s a story that sums up what Gates and Allen started and explains why they have so much money.

Digital eternity. According to the BBC, despite unstoppable technological advances, a surprising portion of the modern world still relies on computers powered by Microsoft operating systems released decades ago. From elevators in New York hospitals that use Windows XP to German trains that require technicians skilled in Windows 3.11 and MS-DOS, Microsoft’s legacy not only survives but remains deeply rooted in critical infrastructure.

In other words, although the company has invested heavily in AI as its new bet on the future, the present echoes its past, with machines that literally still boot up after 20 or 30 years. This phenomenon reveals the durability and stability of old systems and the enormous cost and complexity of replacing them, especially in sectors where functionality takes precedence over modernity.

The paradox of obsolete efficiency. Of course, there’s much more to it than that. Changing operating systems isn’t as simple as clicking “upgrade” for ATMs, industrial printers, subway trains, and hospital systems. The process requires rewriting proprietary software, upgrading specialized hardware and complying with security and compatibility regulations. As a result, many institutions still rely on technologies that Microsoft has officially abandoned, such as Windows NT or Windows 2000.

Even the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs manages medical records on a digital architecture born in 1985, with textual interfaces that require capitalized commands and full file paths. This persistence reflects a combination of institutional inertia and business strategy. Gates and Allen had “visionary” business thinking: Let users keep using existing hardware while selling them licenses, rather than forcing obsolescence. That’s unlike Apple, which promoted total renewal.

The invisible trap. The human cost of maintaining these systems is also tangible. The BBC illustrated this with stories of professionals like psychiatrist Eric Zabriskie, whose days are dominated by machines that take 15 minutes to start up, and artisans like Scott Carlson, who rely on CNC machines that only work with Windows XP despite frequent failures.

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This situation creates a dependency in which systems continue to exist not out of nostalgia but necessity. The most worrying part for many is the structural fragility: Critical infrastructures rely on technologies with no technical support, no available developers, and no security patches against cyber threats. In some cases, such as the San Francisco rail network, each day begins with inserting a floppy disk to load a DOS system.

Yes, the image is anachronistic—but it’s real.

The archaeology of the present. Of course, not everyone views the situation with resignation. Some, like researcher Dene Grigar, approach the preservation of these systems as a form of art and cultural archiving. At Washington State University, Grigar runs an electronic literature lab where she operates 61 vintage computers from the 1970s to the early 2000s. These computers preserve pioneering digital works that depend on the original hardware and software to be experienced as conceived.

She believes modern emulators can’t capture the experience of interactive and participatory works that defined the beginnings of digital storytelling. Her collection includes everything from video games to Instagram zines, all maintained with almost museum-like care. The only thing she lacks, she says, is a machine that can read 5-inch floppy disks.

Empire of the immortal. The bottom line: The longevity of Windows systems is no accident. It’s deeply linked to a business philosophy focused on customer flexibility, allowing organizations of all sizes to keep using their old computers without forcing disruptive technological leaps. In this way, Windows has served both as a productivity tool and an invisible cloak of modern civilization.

It’s a paradox, too, since while Microsoft looks to the future with its commitment to AI, much of the world still lives within the ecosystem the company built decades ago. As developer M. Scott Ford told the BBC, “Microsoft is just something you get stuck with.”

The longevity of its past systems stands as a testament to Microsoft’s dominance and business model, one built on allowing users to continue using older equipment while paying licensing fees. This strategy keeps the technological ghosts of the past alive decades later. It’s a sort of eternal Ctrl+Alt+Del that, as Virginia Tech professor Lee Vinsel put it, “In a way, Windows is the ultimate infrastructure. It’s why Bill Gates is so rich.”

Image | Behnam Norouzi (Unsplash)

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As the Berkshire Hathaway CEO, Warren Buffett was one of Wall Street’s most brilliant and successful investors more than six decades. Meanwhile, Bill Gates spent four decades running Microsoft. Both became billionaires in the process and agree that they would never have achieved this success without one key factor: focusing on achieving their goals.

Being focused and constant. In an interview with CNBC, Buffett recounted how Gates’ father once gathered a group of 20 people, including Gates himself, and asked each person to write down one word that explained their success. “Bill and I [had] only met twice [and] didn’t know what the other own was writing down. We both wrote the same word, which was ‘focus.’”

Both Gates and Buffett attribute much of their wealth and legacy to their ability to avoid distractions and stay committed to their goals for decades. For them, focus isn’t just a useful skill. It’s the foundation on which they built their empires.

While others were playing, Gates was programming. In his autobiographical book Source Code: My Beginnings, Gates reveals that he used to code as a teenager. Programming was a creative way for him to organize ideas and test his logical thinking skills. This led to his obsession with creating different programs at a time when access to computers was scarce and primarily available to universities and large companies.

Gates and his high school friends managed to secure free shared access time to one of those expensive computers. This allowed them to learn programming when few understood it. Gates’ obsession with software eventually contributed to his fortune, which is valued at $114.2 billion according to Forbes.

Starting young. “The thing you do obsessively between age 13 and 18, that’s the thing you have the most chance of being world-class at. And I only have one thing that I did obsessively from 13 to 18 and that is write, try to write good software,” Gates said in a 2016 interview on The Charlie Rose Show.

Meanwhile, Buffett was focused on learning to invest during his formative years. “He was focused on software. I was focused on investments. It gave me a big advantage to start very young. There’s no question about it,” he explained.

According to the Times of India, Buffett began to explore investments at the age of 11 with $114.75 he had saved. He used this money to purchase three shares of the oil and gas company Cities Service (now known as Citgo).

Gates became a millionaire by the age of 20, thanks to the software company he founded with his high school friend Paul Allen. In contrast, Buffett had to wait until he was 32 before his net worth surpassed six figures.

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Prioritizing and avoiding distractions. Having clear priorities has been essential for both Gates and Buffett. It helped them avoid wasting energy on projects that didn’t bring them closer to their goals. Gates told CNBC that he focused his entire life on a single project: Microsoft.

During his first 20 years at the helm of Microsoft, his routine revolved entirely around software development. He sacrificed weekends and vacations to achieve his goal of placing a personal computer in every home. “Microsoft was a high-stress environment because Bill drove others as hard as he drove himself,” Allen wrote for Vanity Fair.

Patience and long-term thinking. From a young age, Buffett chose to specialize in long-term investments, resisting the temptation for quick profits. Throughout his career, he concentrated on identifying solid companies and investing in them. He also held onto their shares for years or even decades, allowing time and compound interest to grow his wealth.

Buffett refers to this approach as “the snowball.” During Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting in 1999, he humorously described his investment journey: “I started building this little snowball at the top of a very long hill. The trick to have a very long hill is either starting very young or living to be very old.”

Image | Razvan Chisu

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On Tuesday, Microsoft unveiled two new laptops that break from the company’s usual formula. The 13-inch Surface Laptop and 12-inch Surface Pro are equipped with ARM chips and emphasize a strong focus on AI. These devices are part of the Copilot+ PC family, which promises enhanced battery life, lighter weight, and seamless integration with AI. While the Surface lineup hasn’t undergone a drastic overhaul, it continues to evolve and improve.

13-inch Surface Laptop and 12-inch Surface Pro Specs

One Heart, Two Computer Ideas

Both models feature Qualcomm’s 8-core Snapdragon X Plus processor. The chip is the semiconductor company’s key player in the competition among Windows laptops.

Accompanying this processor is a 45 TOPS NPU, which enables AI tasks to run directly on the device without relying on the cloud. This capability supports features like Recall. Windows 11’s visual memory tool has faced some controversy, but it’s still in development.

The 13-inch Surface Laptop.

Here, the paths diverge. The 13-inch Surface Laptop emphasizes portability at just 0.61 inches thick and weighing 2.7 pounds. The device also has an impressive battery life of up to 23 hours of video playback. According to Microsoft, it’s the Surface device with the longest battery life to date.

However, it features a 1920 x 1280 pixel touchscreen at 60 Hz, and it doesn’t support HDR. The device starts with 16 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD, though higher-capacity versions are available. Notably, Microsoft has gotten rid of the Surface Connect port, and all connections are now made via USB-C.

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The 12-inch Surface Pro.

Meanwhile, the 12-inch Surface Pro remains within the convertible category. It features a detachable keyboard (sold separately), a compatible stylus, and weighs 1.5 pounds without accessories attached.

The display offers a resolution of up to 2196 x 1464 pixels with a 90 Hz refresh rate, though no OLED option is available. The most interesting aspect is the device’s redesign. It has no fans or grilles, resulting in a cleaner chassis with rounded edges. Microsoft claims it has a battery life of up to 12 hours of video playback.

The company has also improved the Surface Pro’s keyboard. It now includes backlighting, a matte wrist rest, and an enhanced adaptive touchpad. Users can magnetically attach the Slim Pen to the back of the device.

Microsoft continues to promote AI features within Windows 11, and these devices are equipped to take full advantage of them. The most interesting new features in Microsoft’s AI will be available only on devices labeled with Copilot+ PC.

Price and Availability of the 13-Inch Surface Laptop and 12-Inch Surface Pro

You can now pre-book both models from the Microsoft Store. The 13-inch Surface Laptop starts at $899.99, while the 12-inch Surface Pro starts at $799.99. They’ll be available for purchase starting May 20.

Images | Microsoft

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The Department of Commerce’s Entity List isn’t a favorable place for companies to find themselves. One notable entity on the list is Huawei, which lost its licenses to use Google services a few years ago. Most recently, the Chinese company’s agreement with Microsoft to use Windows on its laptops has also been affected.

Huawei can continue to sell existing Windows laptops. However, the production of new devices running Microsoft’s operating system hinges on licenses that are subject to global restrictions. Huawei has a plan.

Licensing agreement. Huawei’s current situation with Microsoft is similar to what it experienced with Google. The Chinese company can no longer use Microsoft’s licenses for newly manufactured products. Just as it had to move away from Google services on its Android smartphones, Huawei can no longer manufacture Windows computers.

Huawei’s response. Huawei CEO Richard Yu said in September 2024 that the company’s current PCs would be the last to feature Windows. He added that the next generation of devices would be equipped with Huawei’s own operating system, HarmonyOS.

This statement has been received positively in China, where HarmonyOS Next is seen as the clear direction for the future. However, consumer preferences outside China differ, and the state of HarmonyOS remains quite preliminary.

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HarmonyOS Next. Huawei is making it clear that the future of its software development involves creating a comprehensive ecosystem where PCs, smartphones, smartwatches, and even electric vehicles are interconnected. To achieve this, the company is developing HarmonyOS Next, a fully proprietary system that doesn’t rely on Android or the Linux kernel. In fact, it features a native kernel.

This initiative marks the company’s most ambitious software project to date. Huawei plans to launch it in 2025 on PCs sold within China.

We’ll always have Linux. Outside of China, HarmonyOS lacks significant relevance because the app ecosystem is still in the early stages of development. On Monday, Huawei announced the Huawei Mate X Pro, available in 14 and 16-inch versions. The device runs on Linux and is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor.

The new Mate X Pro is essentially the same model the company previously offered with Windows, but now features a Linux operating system. It’s priced at around $1,430 and can only be purchased from China. In any case, it represents a significant turning point for the company.

Image | Huawei

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Passwords have been essential to our digital lives for decades, but their dominance is fading. This decline isn’t just due to the security risks of relying solely on passwords. Passkeys are a more modern, effective, and user-friendly alternative. Microsoft recently made a significant move toward making this the new standard.

Creating an account without a password. Anyone can create a Microsoft account without setting a password. This isn’t a secondary option but the new default method, and the process is incredibly straightforward.

To create an account without a password, visit account.microsoft.com, click Sign in, and then select Create one! You’ll be asked for an email address for verification purposes. After entering the verification code sent to that email, you can choose to sign in with your face, fingerprint, or PIN.

There are no complicated password fields or arbitrary requirements. Once you complete this process, a passkey is generated and stored automatically in your device manager, like iCloud Keychain for Safari, or directly in the browser using Edge or Chrome.

Passkeys at the center. This change is part of a larger strategy developed by Microsoft in collaboration with the FIDO Alliance and other prominent tech companies. Passkeys are cryptographic keys based on open standards, designed to provide faster, more secure, and phishing-resistant access. Instead of storing a password on a server, only a public key is kept. The private key, which authenticates the user, remains on the user’s device and is never shared.

Thanks to this design, passkeys eliminate traditional attack vectors. There’s nothing to intercept, steal, or guess. The best part is that passkeys work with a single action: unlocking the device, just as you do every day.

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What Microsoft says. The company claims that nearly one million passkeys are registered daily across its services. Internal figures support this claim. Users who sign in with a passkey have a 98% success rate, compared to 32% for those using passwords and two-step verification. Moreover, logging in with a passkey is reportedly up to eight times faster.

“We believe that great usability and great security go hand in hand,” Microsoft says. In fact, the company’s new registration and sign-in process prioritizes passwordless options. If a user already has a passkey or an alternative authentication method set up, the system will use it by default, with the traditional password presented only as a last resort. This approach has reduced password use by more than 20% in internal tests.

Transition is underway. This isn’t an immediate end to passwords, but rather the beginning of their decline. Although Microsoft allows for the continued use of passwords on existing accounts, it encourages users to remove them from their settings. Simultaneously, the company is working to minimize password use at every login.

However, the convenience of passkeys shouldn’t overshadow an important point. Users need to be aware of where and how they store their passkeys. If all synchronized devices are lost, recovery options must be configured (if available in the chosen service).

A response to rising cyberattacks. The tech industry is evolving in response to increasing threats. According to Microsoft, password-based attacks exceeded 7,000 attempts per second in 2024, more than double the rate from the year before. As passkeys gain traction, attackers are shifting their focus back to traditional methods.

The FIDO Alliance estimates that more than 15 billion accounts may already use passkeys instead of passwords. However, there’s still more work to be done. Adoption is rising rapidly, with companies such as Google, PayPal, Shopify, and Yahoo! Japan implementing these passkeys in their systems.

A new era. Passkeys represent more than just a technical advancement. They signify a cultural shift in how users understand digital security. Despite a more seamless experience, there are still improvements to be made. With Microsoft leading the charge, an era without passwords seems closer than ever.

Image | Microsoft

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In 2013, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was already a dominant figure in the social media industry. However, he sought to expand the company’s presence on mobile devices. As a result, Facebook launched Facebook Home, an Android launcher, and partnered with HTC to release the HTC First preinstalled with this interface. It was a complete flop.

The primary issue lay with Facebook Home itself. Within just a few hours of being available on Google Play, it received a dubious milestone: Nearly 50% of users who rated it gave it one star out of five. While the launcher had some appeal for heavy Facebook users, it performed poorly in other aspects.

Facebook had previously attempted to integrate its services into HTC devices. In 2011, it introduced a dedicated button to the HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa models. This was clearly not the right path forward. In the end, Facebook abandoned this plan and redirected its focus to other areas. The company’s aspirations to cover all areas didn’t go well.

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Several companies have attempted to dominate all areas throughout history. A notable example is Microsoft. After establishing itself as a leader in the PC and office software markets, it attempted to adopt new trends set by other companies. However, initiatives such as the Zune (a copy of Apple’s iPod) were unsuccessful. While Bing has seen slight growth in the search engine arena, it hasn’t made a significant impact. Microsoft’s venture into phones with Windows Phone also ended in disappointment.

Google is another example. The tech giant dominates the search engine market and is a key player in the iOS-Android duopoly. However, it sought to expand its offerings by launching its own social media platform. Google+ was one of the biggest failures in the company’s history.

Even Apple, known for its innovation, tried to enter the automotive market with Project Titan. It ultimately canceled the initiative. Surprisingly, Apple couldn’t succeed in this field while a much smaller company, Xiaomi, managed to gain traction with the impressive Xiaomi SU7. Xiaomi represents a small success story of a company pursuing a broad strategy.

Even Amazon attempted to launch its own phone, but it didn’t go well.

The latest company to pursue this quest to conquer all sectors is OpenAI. Despite having a highly popular product (ChatGPT), the AI startup is trying to expand into new markets, starting with ChatGPT Search. It’s also looking into creating its own social media platform and possibly its own browser, especially if it can’t take over Chrome.

This ambition is reasonable, especially when companies already have a successful product. Leveraging that success to explore new areas and ensure a cohesive ecosystem is a logical strategy.

Apple and the iPhone are prime examples of this. While this strategy can work in certain cases, it doesn’t guarantee success across the board or even particularly strong performance.

Apple Music and Apple TV+ have certainly helped bolster the company’s ecosystem, but these services aren’t dominating their respective markets. Apple doesn’t necessarily need these offerings. They merely serve as additional elements in its overall suite, which is already a victory for the company.

However, time and again, the ambition of dominating all sectors often backfires. Grasp all, lose all.

Images | Zetong Li | Amazon

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