Microsoft's guise of incompetency works to their advantage on many occasions. They're far from incompetent; they likely have some of the best employees in the world. Stuff like lack of standards compliance is totally intentional, and works toward their goal of monopolizing data. What we're talking about is potentially a decade or farther away in the mind of Microsoft, but the long term goal is to create a Microsoft standard that all others are judged by; if data is not presented in this standard, then it is not accessible on 90% of the desktops in the world. MS knows very well that they have tremendous potential to control economics, politics, and socialization with far greater efficiency than any government has. This is why you should not be using Microsoft, IE, or any other crap.
By appearing incompetent they just draw geeks' attention away from the real problems. The same tactics play themselves in the political arena as well. Microsoft made this strategical connection a long time ago; so did RMS, but no one listened. Apple missed the point because they wanted individual empowerment through technology, and never factored in the destruction less altruistic individuals would later cause.
