Also keep in mind the dot-com bust that left a whole lot of second hand x86 hardware floating around. What got Linux a server foothold was the L in LAMP.
Never mind that MS have always fought dirty. Embrace, Extend, Extinguish is perhaps the unofficial company motto. Keep in mind that Active Directory is built on top of open protocols like DNS and Kerberos. But with enough MS "quirks" to make interoperability a chore.
Similarly, MS Office will happily support other file formats as inputs, but output will always have MS "quirks".
On the hardware side you had questionable contracts that meant MS got paid no matter the OS installed, or deep discounts that only applied if companies only shipped Windows pre-installed.
Damn it, they basically choked the life out of Netbooks by putting a very stringent license on Windows XP (that until then they had tried to kill off in favor of Vista) that detailed the hardware it could be run on. almost over night the Netbooks turned into carbon copies, where before each company had been playing with their own designs (Intel bringing out a ATOM package deal that fit the license perfectly likely contributed).
Never mind that MS have always fought dirty. Embrace, Extend, Extinguish is perhaps the unofficial company motto. Keep in mind that Active Directory is built on top of open protocols like DNS and Kerberos. But with enough MS "quirks" to make interoperability a chore.
Similarly, MS Office will happily support other file formats as inputs, but output will always have MS "quirks".
On the hardware side you had questionable contracts that meant MS got paid no matter the OS installed, or deep discounts that only applied if companies only shipped Windows pre-installed.
Damn it, they basically choked the life out of Netbooks by putting a very stringent license on Windows XP (that until then they had tried to kill off in favor of Vista) that detailed the hardware it could be run on. almost over night the Netbooks turned into carbon copies, where before each company had been playing with their own designs (Intel bringing out a ATOM package deal that fit the license perfectly likely contributed).