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You're right that Microsoft works to keep vendors from developing for other platforms.
[b][i]"...Gates doesnt fear Mac because he has them in his back pocket..."[/i][/b]
No. Microsoft doesn't fear the Mac because Gates knows how Steve Jobs thinks. Gates knows that Steve Jobs will not open up the Mac to 3rd party hardware makers. It's not how he likes to operate. Closed Mac. Closed iPhone. Closed iPod. Closed iTunes Store. Closed FairPlay technology. Closed. Closed. Closed. Jobs has had decades to duplicate Windows' successful business model and has repeatedly chosen not to do it. This "dooms" the Mac to always being a relatively small player in the marketplace regardless of how great it is (and ... it's pretty damn great). And, it ensures the Mac doesn't threaten Microsoft's business model or market power at all.
Personally, I would really like to see Apple offer Mac OS X for the X86 PC complete with Apple-sponsored X86 hardware and software developer support programs. That would REALLY shake things up. The line outside the Apple Stores on the day "Mac OS X86" went on sale would rival any software or hardware launch in history. Even I might show up (I would certainly buy it). And, it would cause Microsoft and Apple to enter a very hot war. Fun! Fun! Fun! :^0
But, this is pure fantasy. Jobs will never do it. Furthermore, Apple is thriving as a closed company and it makes no sense to put a stick in Microsoft's eye and make a powerful enemy. Apple and Microsoft are really allies, you know. They only allow the public to think otherwise. Linux and open source is a threat to BOTH Microsoft and Apple. Where's the iTunes for Linux? QuickTime? Safari? You get the idea.
[b]The Windows Ecosystem[/b]
By contrast, Windows provides an ecosystem for everyone to play in. PC OEMs. Retail PC stores. Hardware component makers. Peripheral makers. Software makers. Giant enterprise and government customers. Small and medium businesses. IT departments that make their living and justify their existence by fixing broken Windows systems over and over. :^0 Etc. And, Windows has this huge momentum that keeps things rolling even when Microsoft really screws things up like they have consistently since Windows XP in 2001 (before that too). It is just appalling how bad Vista is. If any other Fortune 50 company screwed up so badly, every single executive would have been fired a long long time ago.
Of course, it's not a safe or friendly ecosystem. For example: Software makers in the ecosystem always find themselves crushed by Microsoft, one way or another. And, if a hardware maker p*sses them off, Microsoft will work closely with a direct competitor to make them tow the line. Example: Microsoft embraced AMD, IBM PowerPC, RISC, DEC Alpha, and a few other CPU makers to make Intel tow the line and to stay out of the software business.
[b]Microsoft fears ... Linux![/b]
There is something that Microsoft does fear however: Linux and open source. Microsoft is scared to death of Linux. Linux is [u]really[/u] good. Linux runs on the same inexpensive commodity hardware that Windows does. In that sense, Linux is riding on the commoditization and hardware standardization coat tails that Microsoft has worked to create (of course, Linux must often write its own drivers, so it's not a completely free ride). Linux is not proprietary so it operates as if it is owned by everyone. Microsoft cannot just stomp out "the vendor" because there is no vendor. Linux and open source projects such as Apache, Samba, and PostgreSQL have lots of financial backing from all of the competitors that Microsoft has p*ssed off over the years: IBM, Sun, Novell, etc. And, of course, there are independent companies in the Linux ecosystem: Red Hat, Canonical, Mozilla, Google, Yahoo, etc.
Microsoft fears Linux and open source. And, it's a lot of fun to watch Microsoft squirm! :^0
