Microsoft aiming to deliver “Apple-like experience”?

Who’d have thunk it? It seems that Microsoft is setting its sights on delivering an Apple-esque “no compromises” hardware and software experience in the future.

Microsoft chief exec Steve Ballmer issued a company-wide memo on Wednesday (later leaked to the Wall Street Journal) that identified Apple’s continued resurgence with the “great end-to-end experience” it offers: “They are good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience.”

Ballmer’s email doesn’t go into specifics as to how Microsoft can replicate the Apple experience, but it’s thought that the firm has started work on a Zune-based iPhone rival running a variant of Windows Mobile 7 and offering “heavy tie-ins” to Windows Live Services. Somehow we don’t think Steve Jobs and pals are quaking in their white sneakers just yet, but we’re sure to here more about Microsoft’s image makeover in the coming months.

Microsoft (via Apple Insider)

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