Looking back, I think many of the big initial successes for Microsoft were propelled by missteps from their competitors. Apple, Lotus, Word Perfect, Novell, the list is long.
This time, their two biggest competitors haven't made many mistakes at all, and that is their big problem.
Was WordPerfect a miss step or dirty tricks? Maybe both, but you are right.
Generally though I don't think that MS has the agility to capitalise on the mistakes that do happen. This still have massive scale and cash but everything I read about life in Microsoft says slow decline is the future. Over managed battling fiefdoms and bureaucracy that limit innovation and are likely to strangle any start up they buy.
You could argue that Microsoft's biggest competitors are being propelled by missteps made my Microsoft. For example, MS could have easily owned the smartphone market; they breezed past Palm and Symbian but they massively dropped the ball.
>>*Apple, Lotus, Word Perfect, Novell, the list is long.
Heck, Microsoft came to prominence only due to a huge misstep on the part of the IBM. Bill Gates simply exploited the opportunity like anyone with half a brain would in that situation.
This time, their two biggest competitors haven't made many mistakes at all, and that is their big problem.