I think that perhaps some of what Microsoft is doing is misunderstood.
*Yes, they screwed us when they went with the older type graphics memory resulting in many games often being in 720p versus PS4's 1080p
*Yes they screwed us when they decided on delayed launches worldwide resulting in SA getting it almost a year after launch
*Yes they screwed us when they decided to only offer a console that was bundled with the Kinect - a decision they quickly regretted
But with this being said, they realise they have lost ground to Sony, their console is weak in comparison. The only reason I bought an Xbox one is because I prefer the controller (a poor reason, I know). Microsoft are now trying to make up the ground, firstly with the Xbox S (which will have 4K video) and then with the Scorpio next year (which is rumoured to have 4K gaming and possibly VR). On a side note, they sorta killed their Xbox S with news of the Scorpio, any reasonably minded person will wait for the latter. Oh, and they somehow magically found a way of incorporating the massive power brick into a smaller console, well done Microsoft, it only took you almost two decades. The upside is that all the games will still work on the current hardware, you won't have to rubbish your Xbox one. They still know that most people will want the newer hardware so they will turf their first gen Xbox ones anyway, sneaky bastards!
The backwards compatibility, also a nice move! If only the library grew more quickly.
Also, the cross-play with Windows 10 is a nice move, could be one that gains them some ground over Sony. If only all peripherals that work with PC would work with the Xbox one games as well (unlike their streaming to Windows 10 feature which only supported an Xbox controller). This brings me to my last gripe:
Microsoft, being the typically greedy bastards they are, have licensing requirements (I assume) on all of their peripherals such as steering wheels. The variants work only on Xbox one/PC or PS4/PS3/PC. If they can all work on PC they should be able to work across everything. Now who in their right mind would do something like that? The Xbox 360 steering wheels are not even compatible with the One, talk about a money pit. If you do a direct comparison between an Xbox one steering wheel and its PS4 equivalent, you'll notice that the Xbox wheel is notably more expensive, why is that? The PS wheel will even have more buttons and functionality to boot. Just look at the Logitech G920 & G29. Is it because of licensing agreements or because the controller technology or chip can only be purchased from Microsoft? They are screwing us because its a niche market, if it was more widely used there'd be a massive stink about it.
lol