Comments like these make me wonder if you are looking back with rose colored glasses. You didn't mention Vista, which is universally regarded as a failure and

Comments like these make me wonder if you are looking back with rose colored glasses. You didn't mention Vista, which is universally regarded as a failure and in the same timeframe as you described. While some of Microsoft's more regrettable decisions have yet to be made by 7, but there are still plenty of bad ones to choose from. Games for Windows Live, Fisher Price UI, massive software vulnerability, Office "ribbon", Admin Popup, Internet Explorer, Silverlight... Microsoft, especially after Windows launched, has always been the poster child for greedy, monopolistic, anti-consumer business practices.