I think you will find there's lots of people on HN who would love to see Microsoft hit a home run. Surface was highly buzzed-over, as were Windows Phone 7/8. There is genuine interest in the developer community for a really good alternative to the Apple & Google duopoly.
The problem is that Microsoft isn't providing a really good alternative. The buzzed-about products have all followed a depressingly similar trajectory: highly interesting on the drawing board, but then crippled on launch by some element of the product that MS just didn't get right. Windows Phones were hard to find on some carriers, for instance, and lacked apps. (This oversight was understandable for Windows Phone 7; less so for 8.) Surface manages to be too expensive to compete with tablets and too limited to compete with ultrabooks. And so on.
Say what you want about Apple and Google, but they at least know who their customers are and consistently nail the things those customers care about. Apple customers are consumers, so their products are heavy on style and sex appeal. Google customers are carriers, so their products are heavy on customizability and adaptable across a lot of form factors and spec sheets.
Microsoft's non-developer customers are... well, Microsoft doesn't really seem to know, and the products show it. They're a mishmash of interesting ideas and half-baked execution. Which makes them hard to cheer for, or to justify buying.
The problem is that Microsoft isn't providing a really good alternative. The buzzed-about products have all followed a depressingly similar trajectory: highly interesting on the drawing board, but then crippled on launch by some element of the product that MS just didn't get right. Windows Phones were hard to find on some carriers, for instance, and lacked apps. (This oversight was understandable for Windows Phone 7; less so for 8.) Surface manages to be too expensive to compete with tablets and too limited to compete with ultrabooks. And so on.
Say what you want about Apple and Google, but they at least know who their customers are and consistently nail the things those customers care about. Apple customers are consumers, so their products are heavy on style and sex appeal. Google customers are carriers, so their products are heavy on customizability and adaptable across a lot of form factors and spec sheets.
Microsoft's non-developer customers are... well, Microsoft doesn't really seem to know, and the products show it. They're a mishmash of interesting ideas and half-baked execution. Which makes them hard to cheer for, or to justify buying.