The OS would be ready to fight on features, but not on audience- that's the problem. Anyone launching a new platform in today's mobile landscape needs to have significant aces up their sleeve. Though there's no guarantee of success, Microsoft pairing up their desktop and mobile offerings is one such way to increase your chances of breaking the market.

Nokia had no such benefits. It's very uncertain how they would manage to persuade people to make apps for their devices, and for customers to buy the phones.