Like IBM wrestling with the PC vs the mainframe, you need to find some critical way of transitioning into the new paradigm. IMHO Microsoft's web businesses are too close to the existing cash cows and that pollutes the offering. They have two masters: the masters of the new (cloud based market) and the master of the old business. Perversely what could have been an asset (the cashflows and distribution and brand awareness of the existing business) turns out to weaken and confuse the proposition. Unsurprisingly (if you are an observer of this industry) being a startup focussed solely on your product confers you real advantage. What Microsoft needs to do is put some of the $2bn a year it loses being 3rd in a range of markets (some of which only have two players) into building offerings that don't encapsulate Msft DNA but purely focus on what this new world needs. They can then bolt on distribution via the Windows platform as icing on the cake, rather than a core part of the proposition. Windows doesn't need to die. It needs to be ignored by Microsoft and Redmond.