>James is right, you're comparing apples to oranges. The Microsoft customer we are addressing are developers, someone who has invested a considerable sum into a piece of software, an asset that then has considerable value. When MS changes course the value of that asset is affected,sometimes tremendously and that customer is hurt. OTOH a piece of hardware like video player, or a game console has no comparable value to a customer, nothing anywhere near what a software application does to a developer or company who "rolls their own". Furthermore, there is little expense required to "retrain" for another video player, automobile, and so forth.
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>You mention IBM, a wise company, on whose systems you can still run applications written in '74 COBOL, PL/1, RPG-II, BAL, and more, languages dating back decades. This protects the investment their customers have in their software. MS could learn something from IBM.
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And don't think I don't value that. I am still running applications written in all those languages and things are swell. About the only problem I am having is it keeps getting harder finding good suppliers of CRT monitors, tape drives, and punch cards.

(KIDDING!!!)