That said, I have also usually stated that they might survive as a company, but will be only a shadow of their former self. In that, they will have a small percentage of the desktop (33% at best!) and not much better elsewhere. They will be forced to port Office to other platforms.

Though I did see .Net as their attempt at self-preservation. When they first announced it they were strong on its portability factors – that it was not tied to Windows – and that they would be porting their own applications (e.g. Office) to it. Supposing they did do so, then it could be trivial for them to move software to Linux/Mac/Unix/etc. if they provided the .Net framework under a suitable license, though that will probably be the day that pigs fly. Needless to say, if they did port their software as they then suggested (2001 era) they would have a migration path for their own software from Windows to other platforms; however, it is unlikely they ever did so – especially with their larger products.

And it is more unlikely that some of their alternative OS’s will take off too.

Though I do have to wonder – is the rising debt a response to BillG’s cashing in of his stocks and options to fund B&MG Foundation? Or as part of his retirement? That would be funny, but not unlike BillG in the least – a cancer on anything he touches.