[Texas Fossil]

Microsoft writing their OS to be as hardware-agnostic as possible drove the develoment of new hardware on several fronts.

That statement is from the perspective of Microsoft single handed direction of the PC development. It did not. I am old enough to remember TRS-DOS, NewDOS, CPM and all the Windows platforms. (and quite a few more)

Microsoft "bought" their first OS, did not write it. They have been excellent marketers, but have a long history of loving monopoly positions. Freedom works, but MS is not about that. Competition works, but MS is not about that.

I am not a MS hater, but I know what they are about. I love technology, but am always wary of motives.

[tacticalogic]

That statement is from the perspective of Microsoft single handed direction of the PC development.

NO.

That statement was from the perspective of doing a comparative assesment of the affects of a business model that leaves hardware development to the hardware manufacturers and trying to write the OS to support as much of that as possible, vs a business model of writing an OS designed for a limited hardware platform controlled and manufactured by the company writing the OS.