If there's one thing I know about Microsoft after covering the company for more than 20 years, it's that it will always respond to a competitive threat. Apple's MacBook Air convinced Microsoft and Intel to launch thin and light laptops with the Ultrabook initiative, the iPad pushed Microsoft to create its own tablet hardware, and the threat of Chromebooks saw Microsoft try to match the security and simplicity of ChromeOS with S mode versions of Windows.
A history of fast follows (and my own sources) tells me that Apple's $599 MacBook Neo announcement last month will force Microsoft to seriously improve Windows. A lot of changes are imminent …
