Sure, the stuff that they're commercializing is not as cool, but the stuff that is being worked on at Microsoft Research should definitely not be discounted bec

Sure, the stuff that they're commercializing is not as cool, but the stuff that is being worked on at Microsoft Research should definitely not be discounted because of this, nor should the company as a whole be not called innovative. They spend 3x more in R&D than Apple does, and it shows. When you look at what has come out of Microsoft Research in the past, you have things like C#, PixelSense, ClearType, and Photosynth to name a few. And that doesn't include other labs like Office Labs. If you ever get the chance to tour their lab space, it's crazy the sort of things they have prototypes for, as well as the things they're striving for with their productivity vision video. Plus, remember that the definition of innovation is "A new method, idea, product, etc: 'technological innovations'." That's exactly what Microsoft Research does. Things like the real-time translation that came out recently, the projected gaming system, and of course the things they're doing with NUI and the Kinect and using them as input methods for computers. Just because they're not viable right now does not discount the fact that they are making things that are some day going to change the way we work, and play. Edit: And I would definitely not consider Apple innovative, in any way. They make products for the masses, and, yes, they are awesome products, but they don't really innovate. I can consider the iPhone to be an innovative product since it changed the way we view smartphones. But after that, they've simply changed the previous year's version and bumped up the specs. Overall, that's what they do. They take a product they have, change it up a bit, and release it the next year. They're a great consumer company, don't get me wrong, but innovative? No.