I agree with most of the other stuff you've said, and I think I like you as a person. That said, I have to tell you that the above statement makes me think your head has been in the linux kernel code too long and hasn't been looking at what Microsoft has been doing outside of Windows. Microsoft is surely not OUT-innovating very many companies, but they are most certainly out-executing a lot of their competitors in a lot (not all) of fronts and are at least keeping pace in innovation with all their competitors.