Apple beat the crap out of MS in mobile because they made the more technologically correct choice: that mobile ~2003 couldn't support desktop features and neede

Apple beat the crap out of MS in mobile because they made the more technologically correct choice: that mobile ~2003 couldn't support desktop features and needed to be something fundamentally different (and resource-lighter). Microsoft was sucked into the false idea that people wanted desktops on their mobile devices, but hardware at the time couldn't offer that in a cost-effective way. Apple was also cutthroat pragmatic in a way that I don't think was ever in Microsoft's DNA -- specifically: killing Flash support.