As of today, iPad users can download a version of Microsoft Office. This is something the company resisted for years, as it maintained a “closed system.” If you wanted to use Microsoft Office on a tablet, you needed a Microsoft tablet.

According to Colin Gillis, with BGC Financial, Microsoft’s reversal speaks to a broader trend. “It’s always going to be a battle between closed and open systems, but certainly in terms of market share, open systems win,” he says.