But computers do need operating systems. A better analogy, to my mind, is the civil rights movement in the 1960's. The success of that movement is directly correlated to how much the Southern establishment overreacted to civil disobedience. Every time a Medgar Evars was shot, or Martin Luther King went to jail, or the three white civil rights workers were murdered, the rest of the nation recoiled in horror. Whenever Bull Connor sent his men charging in with dogs and cattle probes, the media and the federal government swung into action.
Overreaction is a familiar pattern, and if there's anything the media like, it's a familiar pattern.
Microsoft probably believes that all the shouting in the press is epiphenomenal. The nitty-gritty is what alternatives economic players have. That's not completely true. When things get emotional enough, economic rationality gets forgotten, something really stupid happens, and we all suffer. Microsoft should realize it's time to cool things out, not fan the flames.