well considering that MS already invest more in R&D than any of it's direct competitor by a huge amount, they could cut a third of it for dividend and still spend more on R&D than most in the business...
MS future is way less in danger than their competition just because their business relies on way more diversification than anybody else.... they have almost everything the other parties have and way more....
from business, to industry, education, research, gov contracts, servers, cloud, gaming, services, and pretty much anything running software from missiles to ATMs, to cars, etc etc... I have no worries for MS.... we might see some major changes in the future but MS is here to stay and have a long and happy life in front of them.... anybody questioning that have absolutely no clue on how wide MS involvement is in the software and related services world.... if MS was to tank tomorrow it would be a major shockwave that would disrupt so many businesses it would be the software equivalent of an oil crisis....
