"For almost as long as Microsoft has existed, OEMs have ridden its coattails and made hundreds of billions of dollars in the process."

So did Microsoft, thanks to those OEM's. I for one hope that Microsoft's goal is to kill the OEM's. I mean, imagine if all of the sudden no other company but Microsoft could create a Windows machine. No Windows XP, no Windows 7, no Windows 8. Do you think hundreds of millions of users all would just buy from Microsoft their PC's?

I think it would create a huge vacuum in the market, and the OEM's would simply flood the market with Linux machines. Normal people would just buy those Linux machines, while the more savvy users would keep pirating Windows for a few more years until Linux becomes a more viable market.

Sure, Microsoft might get say 20% of the "PC" market on their own, just like Apple has in the mobile market globally. But the vast majority of the market would be filled with OEM Linux machines, just like 70% of the market is now filled with Android phones from other OEM's.