Microsoft expects one billion people to be using its Windows 10 operating system in the software’s first two to three years, signalling optimism in its push to revive Windows and make it more useful on smaller devices.

Windows chief Terry Myerson made the forecast on Wednesday at the company’s Build developer conference in San Francisco, where he also unveiled tools to make it easier to convert applications programmed for Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS to Windows-based platforms without rewriting the bulk of the code.