The biggest thing I can think of that MS research delivered in the last few years is the kinect. They hinged a lot upon that being the next thing in gaming, but what is it now really? Their competitors aren't exactly in a rush to copy it... because once again, its a gimmick for a niche market.

Now just look at VR on the other hand... there's many big companies investing in that and there's a lot of hype around it. Heck even Facebook is on board and Microsoft is nowhere to be seen. There's yet another technological revolution that they're missing out on.