This is the best exapmle of good enough marketing. BetaMax was (is) a far superior product but VHS was acceptable at a much reduced cost. There have been and are better OS than M$ but the over all cost factor helps keep many on the Bill train.
Commodore Amiga was an amazing machine but so closed and propritary that it just couldn't compete with Intel/M$ combo. And like Apple the OS/Hardware were inseprable. If Apple or Commodore had made there OS available on Intel hardware we could have seen a whole different picture.
M$ used IBM HW platform as a springboard. It also won because of maintaining backward compatibility for log periods of time. Not so with Apple or Amiga. You also have the broad spectrum of the fact that M$ took over the business and home computer not just one or the other so what people used at work they used at home. Know anybody the used Novell at home?
So tips for anyone who wants to compete with M$; HW flexability, backwards compatibility, available to home and business.