I agree with everything you said, but there is one crucial bit more. MS is like the Soviet economic model competing against the "free trade" model. One is adapt

I agree with everything you said, but there is one crucial bit more. MS is like the Soviet economic model competing against the "free trade" model. One is adaptive and the other isn't. Here it is the collaborative, adaptive model of software development (y-combinator like) versus the large monolithic MS development culture. Which is why MS will just not come back ever. They may be able to use Ajax, or other technologies, but they will never be able to change their culture. Doing so would require them to repudiate Bill Gates , et al and they are not going to do that. We should thank them in a way, because rather than having to compete against a mob of dinosaurs, MS has killed the others off for us - Novell for example. Thanks Bill.