Microsoft is a monopoly. When software developers have nightmares (about their work), those nightmares are often about Microsoft coming in and competing with their software or changing their development tools or yet another security problem.
That Microsoft can come into a market and completely wipe out an existing product by releasing a similar product with the Microsoft name on it, is a result of Microsoft's monopoly status. Sure, the other product will hold its own for a while, but they will lose the fight.
You might argue that the Microsoft version of a product is better or simpler or whatever. And while this might be true in some cases, it does not matter - you all are a monopoly, you have to act different. You have an unfair advantage: you provide the oxygen for your developers, and, yet, you can go in and suck all of it out of a room by your mere presence.
Microsoft bloggers don't get this. They don't seem to understand that the company they work for induces fear for so many. When they talk about innovation, I have no doubts about their intention, brilliance or passion - their talent is not in doubt. Will I have a competitive marketplace to compete against them in? No, and it is because of the machinery and presence (and in marketing terms, simply the name "Microsoft") of the company they work for and the special position it is in.
If you work at Microsoft and think that the software you develop enters the market on equal ground with software developed outside of Redmond, think again.
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