MicroSoft and a comparison to the hardware side.
I'm mindful of IBM when it was the 'biggest' company on Earth. "Nobody ever got sacked for buying IBM" Then, when everything was going so well, for some unknown reason they gave away the PC's architecture, probably thinking no one would be able to replicated it - or at least, not want to.
My company was started by buying surplus IBM dealer stock - forced upon them by the threat of losing their dealership - but soon I was buying clone motherboards for my own workstations because they were a fraction of the price and substantially faster. For a while IBM seemed to be doing little about it, though it was said that, in desperation, IBM claimed the rights to the BIOS - the look and feel, the very concept of. The electronics world held its breath, but not for long.
Comdex Fall was a sight to behold. The miles of carpets in the Sands convention centre alone, were of fabulous quality and due to be thrown away after the show. The week we'd allowed was nowhere near enough for all the venues and it was obvious the inertia of the industry was so huge not even 'the biggest company' could hold back the tide, and the rest as they say, was history.
Is it possible MS could one day be left out in the cold where the PC market is concerned? It seems impossible for the moment, but then so did mass cloning of the PC. MS might well fight harder, since IBM had bigger fish to fry and I'm not sure what other investments MS has, but I'm sure that empire couldn't take the same customer loyalty swing that IBM had to absorb.
I don't think they can afford to keep hurting the very people that are keeping them alive and need first and foremost to come clean about their policies. Right now, I would call some of their tricks, plain and simple lies. People are not fools and even the most modest users are becoming aware of the truth. Perhaps then, they can build a new relationship with the millions that are at present bewildered and not a little afraid about how badly their businesses are already being harmed.