I’ve watched with considerable interest the dueling ideas from Apple and Microsoft regarding whether desktop and mobile operating systems should be blended or kept inviolably separate. I don’t see this as some expression of natural law, but a guess about how users wish to work. In the long run, the marketplace will shape the result, but the concepts are being tested as we speak with new tools like the iPad Pro, Surface Pro 4, and Surface Book.
There’s no question “mobile” is an immense force in myriad ways. But many who use portable devices still do “work” similar to that produced on desktops (writing, managing files, etc.) and thus far purely mobile operating systems and devices fall short in this area. This article specifically addresses the conundrum. I doubt there’s one perfect answer, but time, experimentation, and work practices will eventually determine the outcome.