Where else would MS get ideas for new features?
Most advances on the PC platform are pioneered by Apple. They don't necessarily invent the stuff - but they definitely get it popularized and adopted sooner. For one example - wireless networking. Yes you could get it from Lucent - but virtually nobody knew about 802.11b until Jobs demo'd the Airport in a MacWorld keynote.
"Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect" --Mark Twain
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." --Albert Einstein
"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses." --George W. Bush