I've seen a few things recently in this vein, that I should look at Microsoft with new eyes because it hasn't done anything bad lately, as if a few years makes up for three or four decades.
Even if I were to buy that, "We've been on our best behaviour lately" isn't really a great reason to invest time and money in a company's mediocre-at-best products.
This. To me Microsoft has basically become the embodiment of mediocrity in tech. Just about everything they offer, maybe other than Office, is a worse version of a better product by someone else. And they can still rake in profits because most huge corporations are hopelessly dependent on their ecosystem.
In the 90s they were unstoppable and their products unrivaled; but that was a long time ago. I don't care about antitrust 20 years ago, I care about not using terrible products that feel constantly 10 years behind the curve.
Even if I were to buy that, "We've been on our best behaviour lately" isn't really a great reason to invest time and money in a company's mediocre-at-best products.