[jug]

The article is from 2007, right in the middle of Ballmer's lead when I think the writing on the wall seemed much different from today. :) Hell, didn't the Microsoft stock take a jump when Ballmer left before investors even knew who'd succeed him?

I think Nadella took Microsoft for a turn no one had expected, especially tackling open source software so differently that they now drive the leading open source hub on the web. Given this, I'd say this article is an interesting historical document that bears little relevance today. It's one that would probably hold true if Microsoft had never reacted and still tried to drive their company mostly through Windows and Office sales.

The one point that I think still stands though is that "No one is afraid of Microsoft anymore" -- this is true especially because they couldn't enter the mobile market like they intended and that's where computing is radiating from today in so many respects (and especially those of which where Microsoft has traditionally often operated in).

But they're absolutely alive and kicking!

[jokethrowaway]

I don't think their contributions to OSS, or them buying GitHub or NPM, says much about them.

Sure, developer's perception of m$ improved, but the what I find surprising is then buiding Azure / Teams.