It's simply unimaginable that this loss of talent hasn't had a huge impact on the company. It has. Absolutely. Microsoft used to achieve domination in every

It's simply unimaginable that this loss of talent hasn't had a huge impact on the company. It has. Absolutely. Microsoft used to achieve domination in every area they entered. Console DOS, graphical Windows, word processing, spreadsheet, entry-level desktop programming with Basic then VB and VBA, internet browser, corporate email with Exchange. Nearly every product blew up into owning its market. In the 2000s, that dominance faded to merely being a strong competitor. Server OS, database, video games with Xbox, development with .NET, and all the enterprisey stuff like Active Directory and SharePoint. They all became viable and performing product lines, but hardly leaders, with market shares just about on par with the competition. And in the 2010s, every me-too product by Microsoft is a fringe marginal player. Bing, Zune, Surface, Azure, Windows Phone... using any of those pretty much gets you laughed at. What happened at Microsoft that they can't take over such industries at will any more? The massive loss of talent and adherence to bureaucracy over excellence has to be part of it.