Interestingly, that's exactly what prompted Valve to invest heavily into Linux compatibility. They saw a future where Windows became an iPhone-like OS where most users only obtained apps and games via Microsoft's store, and they absolutely did not like that idea.

That future never came, but later on the project would pay dividends by allowing the Steam Deck to exist.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

Yep, and I'd argue thats one of the most fruitful things to come out of MS's blunders. It incentivized the other stakeholders to get win32/64 compatibility efforts into high gear for linux, and I couldn't be happier with what we ended up with today (on the linux side ofc)

Edit: Also, I mentioned the MS store and UWP because that was the reason behind that infamous quote - the team wanted to motivate developers to get on board with the platform, and announcing 10 as the last version of Windows was part of that campaign.