Let's be real, Bill Gates was not an innovator. He rode a monopoly, and was a criminal. He put businesses with better products out of business by illegal practices. That's not opinion, Microsoft was fined for it.
He showed no vision, and just followed other companies, used monopoly power, and the crushed the companies that were innovating.
Let's not forget who this guy was. He wasn't good for the industry. He slowed it down. That's why they got fined for it. Again, it's not my opinion, it's fact since they were found guilty.
Now, Microsoft hasn't been able to do that, because they are weaker. So, when you depend on monopoly power, instead of good products and innovation, when you lose it, things go awry. They keep trying to leverage monopoly power, but can't. Look at Windows 8. Why does it suck? Because Microsoft, instead of deciding to make a good product that worked great on the device it was on, decided once again to try to leverage their monopoly. Let's make it look the same on both tablet and PC, so when they're forced to buy Windows on their PC, they'll already be comfortable with it on their tablet when they go looking for a new one.
Except, it didn't work. The monopoly was weakened. The success from leveraging it wasn't forthcoming. So, with 8.1, do they give up? Nope, still a tablet OS for the desktop. Why? Because they don't know any better. They don't. It's what they've always done. It's what's worked in the past. Don't try to create a better product, just use the monopoly to leverage it.
That mindset has to change, and the plague of inferior Microsoft products will change with it.
It's too late now to save their monopoly, Ballmer and Windows 8 saw to that. But, it's not too late for them to make products that are competitive and sell based on that. But, it better happen fast, ChromeOS and Android just keep getting more traction every month. Windows 8.1 is surely not the answer.