Joel on Software - How Microsoft Lost the API War

"Microsoft's crown strategic jewel, the Windows API, is lost. The cornerstone of Microsoft's monopoly power and incredibly profitable Windows and Office franchises, which account for virtually all of Microsoft's income and covers up a huge array of unprofitable or marginally profitable product lines, the Windows API is no longer of much interest to developers. The goose that lays the golden eggs is not quite dead, but it does have a terminal disease, one that nobody noticed yet."


Oh wait, I hadn't oughta quote that without his caveat: "Please don't jump to any conclusions until I explain what I'm talking about."