Comment Re:Meet the 4 stages (Score 1) 464
Sorry, you're confusing Microsoft, with PCs. Yes, one advantage PCs had over other platforms was that they could be made by anyone, and worked to a common standard.
But that would still be true, with or without Microsoft, and whether we had a monopoly OS company or not. There were other OSs you could run on any PC.
And, for that matter, would any other company be better than MS? Apple is all about lock-in.
Well, I agree that Apple are far worse in this respect (look at the IPRODUCTS), but equally, it's wrong to claim that Microsoft are responsible for creating interoperability. They've done plenty to resist open standards regarding their operating system and file formats, too (e.g., restricting use of NTFS).