Microsoft started as business software company, then switched to be a OS company, when this happened, their dev software divisions for example were assigned to support Windows, not develop on their own.
After Bill Gates left, that Ballmer tried to do several things at the same time, resulting specially into a Windows division detached from everything else, MS stopped making good games for windows, stopped making tools specially geared to windows (tools obviously still work, and depend on windows, but Visual Studio team is not a "windows API" team anymore, and a team on its own, with its own profits and vision), and so on.
Then they alienated windows costumers with a insistence in driver changes and creating shitty drivers (like... Xinput, instead of using the still much better Direct Input). And the destruction of some of their most popular services (ie: MSN Messenger, in Brazil people used solely the MSN Messenger to communicate, and mostly on windows, MS killed it in favour of Skype, and shot themselves in the foot HARD, because Skype is crap, and so people use other stuff)
Then they alienated Xbox costumers with the shitty Xbox one (less power than PS4, more expensive, and their headless chicken policy decision making).
They don't have a choice now, the only stuff that they are STILL making right is the business software side, everything else (costumer facing windows, xbox, mobile, games, etc...) became a sort of trainwreck.
Going "lean" on the business side, and later rebuilding the other side is possible, but trying to fix everything at once I think is much harder.
The fact that they turned the product in to horrific ad-riddled bloatware killed MSN Messenger. Facebook chat and instant messaging in mobile, where MS may as well not exist, twisted the knife.
Still, the MSN Messenger client (specially in Brazil, where many people still used Windows XP, and thus by default had to use older clients with less ads) was still much leaner than Skype
I am actually considering uninstalling Skype until I need it again for a job or something, because it makes the boot process MUCH slower, and I don't even log on it ever (I just wait it to launch, and then close it again)
I refused to install Skype for work, pointing out that it's not as secure as it's alternatives. Plus the fact it's disrupting, crappy software and you still can reach me by email, phone, VPN or walk down the hall to my office.
Microsoft started as business software company, then switched to be a OS company, when this happened, their dev software divisions for example were assigned to support Windows, not develop on their own.
After Bill Gates left, that Ballmer tried to do several things at the same time, resulting specially into a Windows division detached from everything else, MS stopped making good games for windows, stopped making tools specially geared to windows (tools obviously still work, and depend on windows, but Visual Studio team is not a "windows API" team anymore, and a team on its own, with its own profits and vision), and so on.
Then they alienated windows costumers with a insistence in driver changes and creating shitty drivers (like... Xinput, instead of using the still much better Direct Input). And the destruction of some of their most popular services (ie: MSN Messenger, in Brazil people used solely the MSN Messenger to communicate, and mostly on windows, MS killed it in favour of Skype, and shot themselves in the foot HARD, because Skype is crap, and so people use other stuff)
Then they alienated Xbox costumers with the shitty Xbox one (less power than PS4, more expensive, and their headless chicken policy decision making).
They don't have a choice now, the only stuff that they are STILL making right is the business software side, everything else (costumer facing windows, xbox, mobile, games, etc...) became a sort of trainwreck.
Going "lean" on the business side, and later rebuilding the other side is possible, but trying to fix everything at once I think is much harder.