Links for Friday July 25^th, 2014

• OS X Yosemite planned for late Oct. as Apple preps 4K desktop & 12-inch Retina MacBook: I'm looking forward to October.

• In the face of recent wins, Nintendo's lack of online functions is no longer forgivable: I agree with this, Nintendo is screwing up badly here. I have two Sony devices now, and it is reasonable to get games and saves moving back and forth, but iOS is best in class here. Nintendo needs to stop worrying about piracy and aim for that level of experience.

• It's Time to Split Up Microsoft: Great stuff from Ben Thompson. I enjoyed this quote:

  "When Nadella took over earlier this year Microsoft had not only missed the mobile boat, he was now saddled with a $7.2 billion dollar anchor and 34,000 new employees. "

  But this is the kicker:

  "In 2000, Windows, Office, and Server were a virtuous cycle. Today, Windows and the entire devices business is nothing but a tax. Microsoft is a company that is meant to serve the entire market, and the way to do that is through services on every device."

  Ben's reasoning seems sound to me.