Is Microsoft irrelevant or even terminally ill?

In a world where Google is buying up everything, taking over your desktop and partnering with the likes of Sun; where Apple has the most relevant hip consumer product on the market and the attention of the masses. Is Microsoft just fading into the sunset?

Apple's winner iPod is not only helping the top and bottom line but is also a serious marketing tool for it's other products. More and more people are looking at Apple for their desktops again.

And about the only thing that's hot on a Windows PC is Google. Google maps, Google News, Google just-about-everything, including your desktop.

Heck, even eBay is showing more signs of innovation with their purchase of Skype.

About the only relevant news from Redmond is that they are releasing an OS that few people really care about as far as I can tell. For one reason, because they've waited so long for long finger .. I mean Longhorn. For another they know deep in their hearts that it's really going to be nothing new - just a "new" and "improved" Windows. Perhaps I'm wrong. But is we've fixed the security bugs in our product but want you to buy it as a new product really something to get excited about? - Provided, of course, that they do fix the problems.

In the coming world of increased IP Babble and innovation I just don't see anything exciting about Microsoft. And what's really scary is that they don't seem to care or are at least not showing any signs that they do. It's like watching a hurricane slowly heading towards New Orleans.

Perhaps I'm out of touch with the Microsoft world of innovation. Please enlighten me.