Please note, this is one of the FIRST POINTS that this author makes and consequently makes me lose any thought of credibility for them. Any article which criticizes MS, or users for that matter, for not including applications needs to look at what happens when MS does so. MS realized that the browser was an important part of the computing industry back in the Win9x days. What did they do? They included it in the OS and made it a part of the operating system. This opened up numerous opportunities for the applications we have now. People cried afoul. Yes, MS did some tactics which were uncalled for in the day, but appear to have learned. The EU requiring MS unbundle IE in a Win7 E edition is stupid and a waste of Microsofts time and money, as well as the taxpayers paying to support the EU for that decision. Users are free to choose a browser, media player, calculator or toilet paper dispenser program of choice, they just need to be educated. Simply because the end user chose to NOT educate themselves and use what was provided is not the fault of Microsoft but of the third parties for not advertising their products in a manner that makes the end user want to use them.
In the end, these articles serve no real purpose for me. I tell people to use what they like, what makes them happy, and what WORKS. No, I do not mean "Just works" as Apple has been known to claim for the OS which does anything but. If people buy a MAC PC (Macs are PCs after all) and are happy with it, so be it, if they buy a normal Windows based PC, so be it. If it makes them happy and does what they need it to, in the end that is all that matters. The same can go for linux. When/if linux ever makes itself usable by the masses, it will succeed. I will not recommend an OS or platform to anyone solely for the purpose of change. With change comes headaches, despite what the FOSS and alternative platform users will lead you to believe, and with those headaches comes support. If I move someone to linux or Apple, I have to help them when their cross stitching program does not work, or when the printer that "Just Works" for them does not work.
In the end, its about choice, not about what vendor is copying who, or what vendor is easier to use for the reviewer de jour, it's the end user which ultimately matters.