The way I see it is that windows is infrastructure, it is a stage that other applications perform on (similar with the browser) but otherwise needs to stay in t

The way I see it is that windows is infrastructure, it is a stage that other applications perform on (similar with the browser) but otherwise needs to stay in the background and their roadies be unnoticed. The trouble is there's an implied maintenance contract as the environment the software exists in only gets more hostile even if your consumer customers rarely pay for it with new licenses. Plus an expectation that you upgrade their facilities/APIs to facilitate new tech other companies have come up with in the ecosystem that gives their 'stage' value, that HDR lighting rig they want to use for their performance or new USB/networking/3D rendering/etc standard.