hepitsu

Same here vis a vis Linux for my personal use, but the worse thing from Microsoft's perspective is how it pushed me towards buying Apple and recommending Apple products to everyone I know. As a techie, I used to hate Apple. I can't stand the closed ecosystem, I can't stand the product markups, and whenever friends or family would ask, I'd tell them they could get more powerful systems for a fraction of the cost if they just stuck to Windows. Nowadays I do the exact opposite. I tell them that while they'll be paying a markup, it's worth it because Apple has at least trended in the direction of privacy and has also continued delivering on usability. I'm not bombarded by ads and news when I open my Mac. So while I will never get my family and friends to use Linux, I have absolutely caused them to spend tens of thousands of dollars on Apple products instead of Windows. That's where I think these anti-consumer behaviors could really hurt Windows in the long run, if enough techies start driving their social circle to Apple.