[_broody]

What competition? Microsoft may be shunned by startups/hackers (that could change quickly if they keep turning the ship the way they've been), but in your average boring old cube farm they are absolutely ahead of other sellers in both product quality and revenue.

[cgh]

They are also shunned by many large shops on the server-side. Where I work now (70,000+ people), there is a strict "no Microsoft on the servers" policy.

The "average boring old cube farm" uses Java. Microsoft = Windows + Office.