M$ finds itself in the unenviable and unfamiliar position of playing catch-up to Apple now.
This has been a LONG time coming.
Frankly I'm amazed they were allowed to continue making billions of $$$ off the same old formula for years - they'd gussy up the same old packages with superfluous crap that didn't really increase functionality and demand that everyone pony up another $800 (or more) for it. Think about it: my first computer YEARS ago was a PC-AT clone. It ran a word processor, a spreadsheet program and a very limited database program to cross-reference data and pull reports. My 386 PC from high school could browse the internet (albeit slowly). This is all nothing new.
Fundamentally what has really changed on computers? They've gotten faster, but the core applications are really the same as they've been for years, if not decades.
Also, consider that we're all getting double-dipped TWICE - once for software and again for hardware. The "industry leader" makes it a habit of forcing their bloated "upgrades" onto the public-at-large, who must then constantly run out and buy newer, faster, higher memory systems in order to run what are (fundamentally) the same programs - word processors, spreadsheets and web browsers. Amazing that the public has been so willing to let this happen to them.