Microsoft hardly ever innovated any software technology or even developed their own products. MS-DOS, Windows, SQL Server: all were originally licensed from other companies. Others, like .NET, were me-toos following on the lead of innovation by other companies. Heck, Windows 95 didn’t even include Internet support originally. A huge part of Microsoft’s success has been a windfall from the engineering triumph of Intel, which made the machines that ran Windows the cheapest and fastest in the industry, even if they were just about the least reliable. Now, with the 64-bit hardware revolution at hand, Microsoft is holding the entire industry back with its 2nd-rate support for 64-bit computing, a problem that was solved long ago by all of its major competitors (Apple, Linux, commercial UNIX).
On the other hand, Microsoft has to be commended for the effectiveness of their business strategies, combining steadfast support for developers and corporate customers with a great application suite (MS Word) and underhanded but clever tactics to force computer manufacturers to push their products on the public.
