Microsoft going back to its old ways. Hopefully this time when they get slapped by regulators it ends this type of behaviour once and for all (break them up into Windows and enterprise software; Azure; Office 365; Surface).
They have seen Google, Apple and other tech players get away with it for years with no repercussions and large number of users even defending their favourite overlords. Does "its their platform, they can do what they want on it" sound familiar?
This is the end result, the precedent has been set and we are all going to pay for it in the coming years.
Well one big difference is that neither Google nor Apple enjoy a de-facto monopoly the way Microsoft does on the Desktop. Of course, where one draws the line on that sort of thing is pretty arbitrary.
Personally I've played devil's advocate for Google and Apple mostly because the reasoning I see for forcing them to open their platforms seems post-hoc. For instance many assert that phones need to be open but, for some reason, game consoles do not. People seemingly deciding what they want and then twisting their reasoning until it fits.
I have been using Safari and Firefox for years. Never have I got a pop-up in Safari when I visited the Chrome website to tell me that I should stay on Safari. Strange, because you say that Apple has been doing this for years yet it has completely escaped me!
Also, never have I seen a pop-up in iOS to tell me to use Apple Maps when I opened or downloaded Google Maps. Again, very strange, because you are claiming that Apple is doing the same disgusting tactics as Microsoft, yet I have never felt as an iOS or macOS user to be bullied into using Apple Maps.
Why do you ask about iOS? How do you download Firefox in a Tesla? How do you download Firefox on a Nintendo Gameboy? Those are special devices which have special requirements. I wouldn't compare that to a computer.
On my laptop it's super easy. I opened Safari, went to the Firefox website, then downloaded it. At no point whatsoever did Apple bully me into not downloading Firefox.
Genuinely asking (haven’t really been keeping up with Apple): is it possible to write software on the iPad for the iPad? If not, I’m not sure how you could consider it a “full computer”.
The issue with what's a 'computer' we could say is a general computing device.
General computing devices enable you to install software freely and use it however you'd deem fit. Desktop computers are general computers. So are laptops. And for the vast majority of people, an iPhone or Android device are general computing devices. However, the Android device allows the user to actually do 'general' things like write code and develop software on itself. While the 'i' device doesn't.
The issue is that the 'i' device is often sold as a 'general computing' device like all other smartphones and computers.
The issue with the 'Tesla' computer is that it isn't a general computer. The purpose of the device is solely to control and manage the vehicle.
After installing a new version of Mac OS X you do generally seem to get a (single) notification plugging the new version of Safari, IIRC. But it's far less extreme than what Microsoft seem to be doing.
