> Why is it disturbing when Microsoft is starting to try to do something which Apple has already implemented with wild success?

I think Apple (and certain Android manufacturers) have made the wrong choice for long-term consumer welfare as well. Apple's increasing dominance is a tremendous threat to consumers' ability to control their own hardware.

In fact, Microsoft has historically been the good guy on this point. They are a big reason why we have such a large selection of cheap PC hardware. It's disturbing because, if Microsoft decides to move in the direction of locked-down hardware, there will be no major player left to support generic, OS-agnostic hardware. Which in turn leaves Linux users very much high and dry.

So really I sympathize with your perspective. It's ultimately the people who buy Apple products who have subsidized this disastrous trend.