It worked before because when MS-DOS/PC-DOS was introduced there were practically no alternatives, once it gained a foothold it went viral (standardisation). When a superior competitor appeared (Dr-DOS), used all manner of dubious and most likely illegal tactics to beat them, including forcing manufacturers to pay for MS-DOS whether or not they shipped their machines with it. Having killed Digital Research (and hence GEM - a GUI) there was no competition for Windows and thus MS extended its stranglehold on the marketplace. The mobile market today is very different to the computer market of 30 years ago. Plenty of superior competition and no conceivable way for MS to apply lock-in except to a small segment of the market. Only way for MS to achieve dominance is if they somehow patented the act of making a phone call.

Sometimes people make a compromised choice - you sell your soul to Jobs in return for a flashy interface, you sell your soul to Google in return for useful useful and mostly top-notch apps (gmail, google maps). What do you get in return for selling your soul to MS? Buggy, power-hungry, bloated, crashy crap?