I've honestly never understood why Microsoft has invested so heavily in the search business but I also think it's incredibly misguided to suggest that Apple is Microsoft's biggest competitor at this point.<p>I might be overgeneralizing but Microsoft's core business is software. Apple's core business is building platforms for software. The only major overlap is in the world of operating systems. Microsoft cares very little about hardware and Apple cares a whole lot.<p>Microsoft's investment in WP7 makes absolute sense but, again, unlike Apple they aren't about to start building smartphones.<p>I'm not sure but somehow the Microsft vs Apple battle just doesn't seem particularly interesting anymore because they seem to be able to coexist pretty well. Google is the interesting player because they are taking stabs in both directions and stepping on everyone's toes. Somewhat reactively, both companies have tried to push their way into Google's core business. Apple at least seems to have a plan; Microsoft appears to just be throwing money at the problem.