There is no doubt the landscape has changed, sure when Microsoft was in it's infancy software patents weren't an issue. However the market at the time was also

There is no doubt the landscape has changed, sure when Microsoft was in it's infancy software patents weren't an issue. However the market at the time was also incredibly small, and it didn't stop Apple from suing Microsoft in the ill-fated look and feel lawsuits. While the system definitely requires reform, it is the one in place and ignoring software patents is not a worthwhile strategy. Google have been on the sour end of numerous patent lawsuits from companies that seemingly have no other agenda than software patent litigation. Meanwhile Google may be critical of microsoft/apple/oracle, but their own intellectual property is also protected from these companies. Which is probably why google has always presented an ambiguous viewpoint towards software patents, and is indeed stock piling them as well. Google are guilty of much lip-service against software patents, seemingly using the issue to dissent against their competitors and to feign an underdog status. http://en.swpat.org/wiki/Google http://en.swpat.org/wiki/Google provides further details on Google's ambiguity towards software patents.