You appear to not get it. MS is not competing against iOS and Android in that way. They're doing their own thing. Therefore this whole talk of wars, races and other things means nothing.
What's the hurry? Do you see Android OS moving into PC any time soon? (let's not talk about the joke that is a Chromebook that's not Android) Apple has been a PC maker for years and hasn't got anywhere near the numbers Windows does and it won't because it's too expensive and lacks software support from a lot of companies still.
When you step back and stop reacting maybe you'll get it. Maybe everyone will get it but I doubt it.
What MS is doing is something that is not being done by anyone else. They're first. When you step back and look at it you can start to realise what's involved. Stop thinking about now and think a little ahead. Think about what will be rather than what you think it's going to be. Stop looking at iOS and Android as examples because they're not the benchmark. There isn't one.
YW on the age thing. I'm not an old guy myself but probably older than most on here. Many years using computers and technology.
You obviously seem to be the expert here and although I may not totally agree you are entitled to your opinion, the only problem is, in your eyes everyone else's opinions are wrong and "they just don't get it"… Constant whiners we are LOL.
“MS is not competing against iOS and Android in that way” and "They're doing their own thing" (so you say), if that is the case then we're all screwed, not sure what world you live in but it has a lot to do with the "competition" and I highly doubt most WP users want to be on the "trailing" edge of technology, and an incomplete one at that. In this day and age comparing against the competition is a reality no matter the differences/intentions and is nothing new, why do you think we have WP users, because they compared its platform to the others and saw it had something to offer at that time (for their needs) over the rest w/the future looking promising.
You tell others to stop comparing yet you apparently couldn’t help it yourself… “Apple has been a PC maker for years and hasn't got anywhere near the numbers Windows does and it won't because it's too expensive and lacks software support from a lot of companies still”... I guess we’re all human. ;-)
You can justify MS existence or lack thereof in the WM market all you want, in the end it "does" come down to the user as to whether it fails or succeeds, I still think we all have a stake in this and MS has an obligation, if not morally, to deliver, erase or diminish substantially the user base and do you honestly think MS would continue? As you've already stated most don't understand what is involved, fair enough, the problem is most don't care yet want results, and as for your "think a little ahead" comment I think MS failed to do that as well, it goes both ways, they dumped W8.1 in favour of W10M leaving us w/o a complete feature rich OS, who does that, oh right, only MS.
Look at BBs blunders over the past few years, I see things playing out in a slightly similar fashion w/MS, not good for the "end user" nor for WP as a whole, to think MS doesn’t care and is “doing their own thing” is just absurd, if that is the case then they out and out lied. I don't give a rats behind how big MS is or where their main sources of revenue come from blah blah blah, the bottom line is many switched based on WM promoting/marketing, what it had to offer and the promises for the future. You can’t honestly tell me you haven’t bought a manufactures product and then found out it didn’t deliver or was “coming soon”, contrary to their marketing, which did not make you upset towards them? If you want to ignore their shortcomings and in no way MS should be held accountable so-be-it, many choose not too… See, we now have choice that you spoke of ;-).