I still can't understand why MS is forced to break up product bundles but Google can make Android with a bunch of Google apps, some of which are very difficult to turn off.
The reason you can't understand it is that your entire premise is faulty. The EU already forced Google to unbundle parts of Android (while also issuing a 4 billion Euro fine) about 5 years ago. Specifically, for Android it's the device manufacturer who decides what gets pre-installed on the phone. The EU required Google to not make preinstalling Search and Chrome a precondition of getting to install the other apps.
I was under the impression that the EU is working on legistlation forcing all smartphone apps to be uninstallable, including manufacturer bundled ones.
Understand for a moment that Microsoft isn't even counted as Big Tech by most people: GAFA (Google Apple Facebook Amazon) or FAANG (Facebook Apple Amazon Netflix Google) as Big Tech is usually referred by.
Microsoft isn't or can't line the necessary wallets to play with the big boys, simply speaking. This means they don't get to enjoy the perks of Big Tech, but also get to enjoy not being lambasted along with them.
Microsoft is in the top 3 of big tech market cap (US). They officially spend about $10M per year lobbying in the US, which is in the same ballpark as other big tech. Maybe the HN crowd doesn't count Microsoft as big tech, but financial markets, enterprises, governments, and regulators most definitely do.
No Microsoft isn’t treated like BigTech by geeks who listened to a loud mouth guy on CNBC who originally coined the term “FANG” (notice the missing “A”) that included a Netflix who’s market share is nothing compared to Apple and Microsoft that were already two of the 5 most valuable companies even when the term was coined
Outside of the English speaking world (and Japan) iOS market share is generally much lower than particularly in the US.
I would be tempted to say this is because a lot of the iOS pitch is “trust Apple because you don’t trust the regulatory environment” whereas in places like Germany the regulatory trust is higher so that pitch sounds weaker.
Apple hardware is prohibitively expensive for most of the world. That's probably the primary driver for the market share gap. Even in the US, the brand is a status/class symbol to some extent.
That said, I have heard the "trust" version of the pitch from some VC types floating around UNLV and I find their trust in Apple to be perplexing.
