> I don’t think Microsoft is doing anything that could not be technically done by somebody else.
This is generally true. PHP had Windows support early on and builds provided by community.
Having Microsoft backing it meant there were people with more time for it and some Windows-specific optimisation could be done, by people with access to true Windows experts. This gave a boost in the early days of their involvement.
I don’t think Microsoft is doing anything that could not be technically done by somebody else.