It is disingenuous period. Google was not a competitor 10 years ago. As the article points out, Google only started competing about 5 years ago after Microsoft

It is disingenuous period. Google was not a competitor 10 years ago. As the article points out, Google only started competing about 5 years ago after Microsoft had started failing in those categories. Firefox had been eroding at IE and changing people perception of internet and web browsers for more than a decade. Failure by MS to compete with Firefox is what allowed Google to put the last nail in IE coffin. Mobile OS war really started 6 years ago after the iPhone basically reset the expectations. Google and Microsoft started at the same stage to compete against Apple. Ballmer could not have had the foresight that Google would compete in a category that did not exist yet. Or if he could predict the smartphone/tablet resolution they would just have bought Android before Google. About the PC OS. So what about the netbooks that had MS sweating years before Google took interest in the category. And again, Google took interest only because it was/is basically abandoned by all the player. (it is fair to say that MS does not give a sh!t about Chrome type laptop) MS made several failures. (when you are on top ...) It is just chance no prophetic vision that set Google as its arch-enemy today. Had MS competed in the browser and mobile area better, Google would have most likely chosen another road. Google after all is making money selling ads, OS/Browser are just the tools that made sense to invest in, considering MS failing.