Even in the days when it sold programming languages. Their BASIC would cost more than the hardware it ran on and was mediocre compared to competitor's products. Bloated and buggy were adequate adjectives as well. And they've never improved on their M.O..
If it hadn't been for their slimy deal with IBM (a big name at the time and if IBM sold used condoms with their name emblazoned on them, people would have bought them like rare exotic jewelry), Microsoft would have been history a long time ago. A pity. :spit:
They also have a history for being extremely paranoid about software piracy. Given how much they've always charged for their products, it's no wonder they're paranoid. Their products are overpriced when competitors give more for less money. MS succeeded in the industry only because of their deal with IBM and, later, restrictive and illegal marketing and contractual moves that the government never punished them properly for (they got caught in 1994 for forcing hardware makers to put their OS on every machint they sold, even if the machine wasn't do have their OS on it. That's called stealing and they hardly got a slap on the wrist for it. But by then it was too late.)
Microsoft's latest atrocity speaks for itself:
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5103941.html
(snip...)
Jones said that while the market for tablet PCs remains small, software vendors will remain reluctant to develop applications specifically for the platform. "If the Tablet PC is to become a significant part of mainstream mobile computing, and we think it can be, Microsoft needs to help its partners invest, promote, develop and expand their offerings," he said.
Even the commentators see Microsoft's actions as unbridled selfish greed. (Microsoft is HOW affluent and they're still this greedy? Sheesh...)