Comment by panick21_

Microsoft backing is a help? Seems to me having the backing of the Linux community would have been way better.

Making UI for mostly existing apps, porting lots of existing apps over. Lots of free continues investments. Like you get other companies on board who use the same basic distro and apps and help with bug fixes and so on.

You can use the same distro on phones, tables and even sell laptops with that software on it.

And you can do all of that for no cost to anybody. Every single Nokia with Windows gives money away to Microsoft.