Right now the Microsoft leadership has a real problem with consumer branding.
Apart from Surface and Xbox, they cater more to enterprise and backtrack a LOT with their consumer-focused products. I wouldn't say Microsoft has any particular vision for the brand that they're not willing to jettison at a moment's notice.
They'll follow whatever is most profitable, and I figure games as a service on Windows 10 is where they think the money is going down the road. The digital marketplace transition can't come soon enough for them. If they build their infrastructure steadily between now and then while also showing appreciation to their customers with deeper software support, they can do really well. Powerful hardware doesn't win over everyone, and it only works for so long. So the software support really needs to be there.








