MS has always needed someone with the vision of a Steve Jobs at the helm.
If they could find such a one then even at this late date they could move in a new and exciting direction.
I’d start by creating a new tablet design that ran a custom version of MS Linux. I’d include Win7 as a virtual OS that ran under that custom Linux to handle legacy. I’d have a nice LARGE monitor and wireless keyboard/mouse for the tablet. I’d fix it so just placing the tablet close to the monitor would charge it and connect it up using RF. No cables!
A dictatorial micro-manager at the helm?
“If they could find such a one then even at this late date they could move in a new and exciting direction”
Microsoft Research has come out with some of the greatest tech innovations in the past 20 years:
Microsoft Research celebrates 20 years of crazy innovation
http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/28/microsoft-research-celebrates-20-years-of-crazy-innovation/
“I’d start by creating a new tablet design that ran a custom version of MS Linux”
Most idiotic idea I ever heard of. Windows 7 smokes Linux in every way, and Windows 8 is even better than Windows 7, and was furthermore designed from the ground up for tablets, so why would Microsoft ditch all that and go for some version of Linux? There are plenty of Linux based tablets around. Don't see any of them doing that great in sales.