Question: Is Microsoft hindered by its large user base (especially business users) when it comes to rewriting things from scratch? When Apple re-wrote their OS to create OSX they did a great job. The jump from OS9 was huge and it was a step in the right direction. Still, they had a much smaller user base and therefore had less to lose if a few users had issues with their random 3rd party software not working on the new OS. With Windows, whether XP, Vista, Mobile, or whatever, it seems like it is much harder to do a total rewrite to bring things up to date. When the vast majority of businesses depend on compatibility with your OS, you don't want to risk backwards-incompatibility with all kinds of software packages. The
PR backlash would be terrible if a new MS OS caused someone's internal software system or email server to stop working at a critical point in the business day.
Google has the potential to rewrite things because they aren't responsible for maintaining backwards compatibility with any existing software. Like Gmail, they can afford to keep it in perpetual beta while the service improves in a much more linux-like approach.