The basic problem with MS trying to become a NEW OS is that the physical PC boxes are CRAP and not even powerful enough to run vista, let alone two OSs at the same time and one of then a VM.
This is where Apple will be proven right: He who makes the hardware AND the software, wins.
Exactly. Also, Apple has and will have better margins on hardware, and not have to worry about incompatibilities, which is one reason its OS is so strong. Meanwhile, the PC makers have the same margins as sellers of bananas. Licensing the Mac platform in the 1990s (basically, they farmed out the PM 7200) resulted in more overall sales, but the better margins were in the souped-up machines being sold by the licensees. When Jobs came back, with years of experience having made him much smarter (”Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.”) he pulled the plug on licensing and narrowed product lines to reduce support costs.