Their idea was to be a giant "start-up factory", create tons of interesting ideas and see what sticks: the shotgun approach. But so far not enough are sticking, and their reputation for pulling the plug early makes people not want to risk depending on their platforms and products because they fear being left high and dry. Microsoft has been generally reasonable in that area, and thus seen as a safer bet. (I know, MS is annoying in many ways, but so are their competitors.)

I'd like to see Google give MS a run for their money. For one, create a state-ful GUI markup standard that's business-oriented, not crap like Bootstrap. Second, open source key products so users don't fear getting the plug pulled. (The GUI browser/pluggin could be based on the Tk or Qt kits to avoid reinventing the GUI wheel.)