IMO, Microsoft has no downfalls. They work fine for me. Everything works fine for me. I could care less that you have to download virus programs, spyware programs, etc. It doesnt take up more than 20mb on your computer and thats not even much. I enjoy the time Microsoft brought to the digital era. If it wasnt for them, you wouldnt be using linux, mac (the later versions), firefox, opera, etc.
As far as everything works fine for me: Try Windows ME, BSoD's. Are those fine? No there not.
They dont even work fine for Bill GatesAs far as Linux: Wrong! Linux is a derivitive of UNIX. Linus Torvalds wrote the original Linux kernel BEFORE the first Windows. BSD is also
As far as downfalls: *coughs*Exploits*cough*
As far as Firefox: Firefox was based off the Gecko rendering engine, IE is based off of Mosaic. Netscape was the first internet browser and it used the Gecko rendering engines. Just because there isnt a mainstream product doesnt mean there wont be other software. Just look at the programs on Download.com, tons of programs there dont have mainstream support, yet there are still several programs.
As far as Macs: Explain why Macs couldnt have gone from the OS to OS X? Many programs evolve even though they are under no pressure to completely change. Its exactly how many websites change there layouts, they might not need it, but they wanted to change the style. So how could Mac OS not exist without Windows?