>In the past Microsoft always took the negative road, trying to destroy competition, rather than the positive road of integrating and collaborating...
Wait, what? Have you never heard of the phrase "embrace, extend, and exterminate" before? What you describe is simply step one of their modus operandi.
I think the only difference between the 1990's Microsoft and the one we have today is they aren't as good at the exterminating part. They still extend things like crazy, but either they really are trying to play nice or they just don't have the weight to exterminate much any more (that wasn't already swalloed by them). My opinion is it's likely a mixture of the two.
It may also be a product of age / experience. If you were involved in the 90's tech industry, it's very hard to forget MS's era of "embrace, extend, and exterminate".
I view Apple's closed ecosystems with a similar sense of apprehension.
Wait, what? Have you never heard of the phrase "embrace, extend, and exterminate" before? What you describe is simply step one of their modus operandi.
I think the only difference between the 1990's Microsoft and the one we have today is they aren't as good at the exterminating part. They still extend things like crazy, but either they really are trying to play nice or they just don't have the weight to exterminate much any more (that wasn't already swalloed by them). My opinion is it's likely a mixture of the two.