[pluma]

You're probably aware I'm not considering it to be likely that this is Old Microsoft in action but to humour the thought experiment: I don't think they could succeed either. IE is still only barely recovering from Microsoft's history and Windows has largely been defeated by OSX both in the consumer and developer space. We're unlikely to see Microsoft Space Nazis descend upon us from a hidden moon base any time soon.

That said, there are plenty of examples of the extinguish phase not working out or resulting in less of a bang and more of a whimper. It's always been more of an infected blanket than nuclear warheads.