there is a sea-change occurring across the board with many developers regarding MS's current tactics. I cite for starters the gaming industry. Long held as a major reason many users within that realm would not make the "complete" transition to alternative OS's, such is soon to be a thing of the past. Steam is now in the process of porting all of its games to OSX and even Linux. Further, they have gone on record with their extreme displeasure with Windows 8 and its development platform in claiming publicly that MS has sounded a death knell in further arrangements with game developers.
As for MS and its meteoric rise to the top of the Office suite of applications, no organization is tied to MS at the hip in that area unless they happen to be using Exchange and/or SQL. Granted, anyone having memory of changing platforms in either of those 2 areas will not be looking forward to the prospect of needing to repeat it anytime soon. Nonetheless, this industry is full of brilliant and talented minds who will continue working towards making things more efficient and offering more choice. The future of computers, hardware and software alike will be far brighter with the ensuing competition. Before leaving the Office argument, ask ANYONE who previously used Word Perfect what their thoughts on MS Office products are. If your answers are like those I experience from these users, you will be hard pressed to find one that wouldn't go back to WP in a second given their choice in the matter.
As for my own observations from way back before the Dead Sea got sick and died, I owned both a Windows 3.11 machine and a Mac Powerbook. It seems quite clear to me that the ONLY reason Apple failed to prevail in the industry was in the cost of their products at the time. (In large part due to their own shortsightedness, adherence to Motorola and failure to have the Ace-In-The-Hole contract Bill managed to swing with IBM) Anyone measuring the 2 Operating Systems against each other that could keep a straight face when claiming the merits of Redmonds product over the Mac (at that time) would be thought a fool. It is not my intention to start a flame war here. Sorry, I just call it as I see it. Windows 8 appears to be a major step backward and as is typical of MS, they intend to shove it down your throat as long as you continue to open your mouth.
For all of the MS fanboys, remember these words and watch them become a reality as the motions are already set into action. "All that you have hated about Apple products is about to become a full-blown realization with Microsoft"
Funny how things come full circle.