As the dominant software company across the industry, Microsoft has done both good and bad. In the past, they've been investigated for anti-competitive practices. There are times when the Microsoft Way seems to be "steal it, or buy the company and own it...or steal it then buy it if they sue".
Lately I'm beginning to think that Microsoft isn't trying to succeed by putting down its competition: it seems to be succeeding simply by building a better product. If you can trace how technologies like SQL Server 2008 and SharePoint have grown, you start to get part of a bigger picture for them that more resembles the American Dream: ideas, innovation, and energy.
On the other hand, Microsoft's Hall of Shame probably won't have a Vista wing that's as large as, say, the Aisle of Windows Me or the Microsoft Bob Exhibit. The biggest mistakes with Vista were, in my opinion:
1) taking 7 years to build the product, and still having it be so buggy and incompatible on launch; and
2) vendors having 7 years to learn how to write good drivers, and failing to do so.
Both are more shameful if you believe in the "Microsoft was just copying the Mac OS" philosophy: copying someone else's idea means a chance to outdo the competition by learning from their mistakes.
At the end of the day, if you're a company as far-reaching as Microsoft, impacting as many people as you do, youre best-case scenario is to celebrate your successes, own your failures, and learn from both.
Regardless, I'm now hopeful that hope Windows 7 will be less "Copy the Mac" and more "Build a better product."
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