Ask Paul: June 22 (Premium)

Happy Friday, and happy summer too. Here are some answers to this week's questions.
Google still hates Microsoft
jblank46 asks:
Something you mentioned on one of the podcasts a while back stuck with me. You said that Google, Apple and Amazon would do anything to keep Microsoft down or something to that effect. I know Microsoft is sometimes their own worst enemy but have always believed Google systematically tried to keep Microsoft down while at the same time built their platform dominance utilising Microsoft platforms. I have not seen anyone else address this topic directly so care to elaborate your thoughts more on this?
Are you referring to Google building its ad empire on web ads that run/ran through browsers largely on Microsoft Windows? If so, that, at least, isn't directly predatory: It makes sense, given that Windows was the center of the personal computing world.

But I do think that Google's animosity towards Microsoft is a byproduct of that era, for sure. Microsoft then, like Apple today, was infamous for stealing the best ideas from its competitors while using "FUD" to keep them down. And it had killed dozens of erstwhile competitors in the past, from WordPerfect to Borland to Lotus and many others.

But I think it was Microsoft's final act as belligerent monopolist that scared Google the most: Microsoft was able to destroy Netscape and its nascent "web as a platform" strategy by making its own browser and then integrating it and other web technologies directly into Windows. And there was ample evidence to suggest, that as Google got bigger and bigger, that Microsoft would do the same to it.

Google is a weird company. But I think its desire to diversify its product line so dramatically was, in the beginning, a hedge against the classic single-product dilemma (if Search ever died, it could collapse) and against the one company (Microsoft) that was in a position to hobble its efforts. After all, Microsoft could very easily do to Google Search what it did to uncountable competitors in the past, and make its product work more poorly on Windows. Which was the world's gateway to personal technology.

The thing that bothers me about Google today is that they're still copying Microsoft at every possible level, and it almost seems spiteful. More to the point, Google today is the gateway to the Internet, and its potential to harm or bias the world's personal computing experiences is so much more vast than Microsoft's ever was.
The future of Windows
wolters asks:
How do you feel about the current state and future of Windows? After //Build/, it was obvious that Windows is no longer the show runner. And about that time, many of us Microsoft fans were left wondering if it was even worth investing in anymore. Since //Build/, it seems like Windows is being mentioned more often that not and we are about to head into back to school and then the rumored Surface Refresh. Was just wondering if your outlook on Windows fluctuates as mu...

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