[KwasiOwusu]

"Then you might realize that no matter how much of a raving fan you are, the company is moving aggressively in every space to hem you in and limit your options."

Today, the real powerhouse in the smart phone business is Nokia, who effectively control Symbian.
Microsoft is only just beginning to compete in that space, increasing market share fast, but from a very , very small base.
So I think Microsoft is actually increasing people's options in the smart phone space, saving them from what was an effective Nokia/Symbin monopoly.

[kezekiel]

So I think Microsoft is actually increasing people's options in the smart phone space, saving them from what was an effective Nokia/Symbin monopoly.

Symbian is not a Nokia monopoly. Symbian handsets are available from Nokia, Motorola, Siemens, Panasonic, and others. Applications can be written in Java and C++, rather than some proprietary MS language. And unlike Microsoft's handsets, you can choose to synch to something other than Outlook.