OK, so you run a company with practically infinite resources, an OS that is portable across architectures, and a managed language runtime that's portable across architectures that powers hundreds of thousands (millions?) of useful applications with a suite of languages including what is arguably a nicer language than Java.

You see Android running the same apps on multiple mobile device architectures using Java and the Dalvik VM. That's a technology you had since 13 years ago with NETCF.

Hmmm. What to do? What to do? I KNOW: Let's segment the market by blowing off compatibility with a gazillion apps my enterprise customers have written and use and let's use Surface RT to go for a Quixotic attempt to beat Apple and Google with Modern apps which are over-sandboxed and can't talk to .NET apps.

That comes off as derisive, but how do you say it nicer? They lost a billion dollars in a write-down - not a write-off - doing that, and not one word about "Gee, can we fix the product formulation?"

Well, at least they didn't buy Motorola. That's going to be a write-down that leaves a mark.