The real battle is the distributors like Gateway and Dell.
Microsoft controlled the OS market the same way that the RIAA companies control the Music market -- restrictive contracts that punish and sometimes actually prevent distributors who offer consumers competing products.
Those contracts are now officially unenforcable.
Microsoft has never won an actual competitive battle at the retail level. They've always used control of the distribution channels.
It just might be a whole new world in the software biz!