> Microsoft has used those patents to threaten other Android manufacturers before or make them pay for them. Google wants everyone using Android to move away from EAS, and it makes perfect sense from their point of view, to cut costs for themselves and Android manufacturers, and to be less dependent on Microsoft's proprietary technologies.

Sounds like a case of Microsoft's user lock-in strategy backfiring. They have had plenty of time to fix their IMAP implementation over the years, but it hasn't been a priority for some reason.