Windows 1, Internet Explorer 1, Xbox 1, those were all products released
at the peak of their competitors, never had a chance to win but got
Microsoft in the game. Subsequent releases won them the market.
Same story with Windows 7.5 here, MS never expected to win this round,
they just need to get everything in place. You can not count out a
company with THE biggest ecosystem in Windows+Office+Xbox AND Nokia as its
partner. Nokia is still the biggest phone manufacturer out there despite
a very very outdated OS. A starved to death camel is still bigger than a
horse.
I am a HUGE Apple fan and I see Microsoft as their biggest threat, since
the beginning. The problem with Google is it does not have a real
ecosystem and does not control its OEM partners. MS has the best blend
between Google and Apple in my opinion and potentially, the strongest
ecosystem.
People forget Microsoft is still making twice the profit of Google, second
only to Apple in revenue. They MUST play their cards right with Windows
8. They are getting paid more than Google on Android sales thanks to
patents, they have the money (and unlike say, Zune/Bing, the desire) to
fight to the end.
