It ceased competing years ago. Now it merely annihilates, engulfs, and devours.
If there were true competition in the operating system world, Microsoft would have collapsed a fortnight after it released Windows ME.
If there were true competition in the operating system world, Microsoft would have collapsed a fortnight after it released Windows ME. It annihiliates/engulf/devours just like any other large American corporation, and it still has to vigorously compete against other large corporations doing the same thing.
All large American companies "annihilate/engulf/devour" smaller companies. I think Cisco has devoured half the networking hardware industry.
Microsoft can't annihilate Java or Linux, they must COMPETE with it. They can't engulf/devour IBM, Sun, or Oracle - they will compete with them.
ME was just a stopgap until Win2K and WinXP came out, it was always intended as the last release in the Win9X line. ME was just a footstep in a larger strategy. MS has largely ditched the Win9X/Me codebase.
And, don't forget Linux DID steadily gain ground during that time.
Now, do you actually have any arguments that will hold water?