The strong get stronger
Although the comparison to the famous "Dewey Wins" head line is silly, this commentary by Charles Cooper on News.com is interesting. He makes a very good point that the recession came at just the right time for Microsoft. With a ton of cash and the ability to maintain revenues through a strong (some would say monopolistic) market position, Microsoft was able to get stronger in the last two years.
Although Linux is a threat, Microsoft is taking it seriously. The bigger threat is probably posed by the end of the PC era, but Microsoft is trying to cover their bases on that end as well. As hard as it is to believe, I think in 20 years, Microsoft will be a bigger influence on the daily lives of people than it is today. They are smart, agressive and they have tons of money.