much the same, really (Score 1)

Without Microsoft, some other company would have eventually stood up and brought personal computers to the masses. That company probably would not have been Apple, their business model (hardware and software together, or nothing at all) wouldn't have worked on a large scale, and continues not to work on a large scale. And I like Mac OS. Fact is, Microsoft has had an overall positive influence on computing. Bash the big guy if you must, but you cannot measure the amount of technology, innovation, and software that has come out of having a ubiquitous operating system and hardware platform.