Good catch, somehow I thought the Newton was released later, thanks for the correction. Upon further research, Microsoft seems to have begun their handheld effo

Good catch, somehow I thought the Newton was released later, thanks for the correction. Upon further research, Microsoft seems to have begun their handheld efforts with WinPad and the Pegasus project in 1994, which finally materialized as WindowsCE by 1996 in real consumer products. Apple Newton development seems to go back as far as 1987, with a consumer product out by 1993. I also think what you say about them failing to support their products in the long term is very true. Until recently, Microsoft has been willing to let a lot of its products languish both aesthetically and in terms of functionality. I think this ultimately still comes down to Microsoft's large disjointed nature and stubborn commitment to support legacy hardware/software, which made it less dynamic than a company like Apple that had a strong top-down unified decision making process that allowed it to push out cutting-edge products and aesthetics.