red_dead said:
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It's easy to criticise, in this case unfairly in my opinion. You need to accept that Microsoft was, in two of the examples given by you, breaking into markets which were already established and completely dominated by other companies which offered quality products.
XBox 1 was a great console and anyone who didn't buy one missed out on some great games last generation (Same could be said of Gamecube and PS2). It was their market leader and I'm sure they didn't expect to turn a profit on their first machine. They came late to the party but entered because they could see how the console market was expanding. Considering that the XBox 360 is still ahead in sales of the PS3 some 4 years after the PS3 was introduced and should easily double the sales of the previous XBox is pretty impressive (especially when you consider they were going up against established brand names which carried with them huge customer loyalty and Sony had previously been dominant in sales).
Windows Vista was a complete overhaul of Windows XP. Performance wise it wasn't a huge improvement but the new windows environment was welcome and it did set the groundwork for Windows 7, which is considered equal to Mac OS X even amongst most Apple Mac users. High praise indeed.
Zune was an attempt to tap into the iPod market pioneered by Apple. Apple is completely dominant in this area as it is seen as the premium brand and the product is excellent. I personally don't see anyone competing with Apple in a lot of areas in which it operates but again Microsoft did see how the market was expanding and attempted to tap into it. (In fact Apple has recently become the second largest US Company in terms of market capitalisation, second only to Exxon, having overtaken Microsoft.)
Edit: Late to the party again. Damn you guys respond quick!
Kinect! 
who needs video games!
