You will see with time that Microsoft has not really changed. They go through cycles when they're behind, they're nice, when they're ahead, they're jerks. The

You will see with time that Microsoft has not really changed. They go through cycles when they're behind, they're nice, when they're ahead, they're jerks. The problem is people keep getting fooled by the "embrace" aspect of their embrace, extend, extinguish tactic, because it seems like, "oh hey, Microsoft's here! They're helping out! This is great!". A lot of times, the folks responsible for welcoming the embrace part of the cycle either move on to actually work at Microsoft or elsewhere, and then the following two steps usually take place after they're gone. Microsoft has also been really good at seeding standards organizations or pushing out sock puppet companies/representatives to advocate for positions that undermine their competitors. There's really no long-term good practices. The short term niceties are all just to get the foot in the door to finish their cycle.