&gt; Why does MSFT gets away with this.<p>Go to any store, anywhere. What computers are they selling? Maybe Chromebooks, which are showing to be wildly popular. But they also get returned a lot. Why? Because the user expects X software to run on Y computer, and do not even know what an operating system is because we idled in complacency on Microsofts desktop monopoly for twenty years. Take note of how Walmart sells Ipads but not Macbooks.<p>The only alternative to Windows is ChromeOS. Which is not an alternative for even half of Widows&#x27; use cases, since there is no native application support and its app-store restricted. Half of Windows appeal is the lack of application lockdown to a store, albeit MS has tried their hardest with their Windows Store to stop that.<p>OSX is not an alternative, Apple Stores are fairly few and far between, and the cost of a Mac is prohibitive, and it would have the exact same software incompatibility problems as Windows. And modern OSX is code signing applications and is, for consumers, even more restrictive and draconian than Windows is - do you <i>want</i> your potential software users on iOS or OSX? I certainly do not, because that gives Apple absolute power to stop my software at their whim, or never approve it in the first place.<p>Ubuntu (or any desktop Linux) is also not an alternative, because, simply, its not there on the shelf next to Windows or ChromeOS. If Macs are inaccessible due to price and location, Ubuntu does not even exist - and it literally does not, given its market segment size. If Canonical wanted serious desktop adoption they would have to throw ludicrous money getting Ubuntu computers in front of potential users to purchase.<p>So of course MS gets away with this. Nobody is trying to stop them. And I doubt Xbone is a flop - it has sold 15 million units, half of the PS4 but still well on track to outsell the original Xbox in its lifetime, which only moved 24 million units in 5 years. I am insanely against consoles as a platform and pray they die finally and give consumers their hardware back, but that seems like a distant dream as well.