Ｍicrosoft-tradeoffs of being a monopoly company

After been accused for breaking the antitrust laws in 2000, a European Commission reinforced that Microsoft violated antitrust laws to "double lock" on PCs.

The Commission found Microsoft was tending to capture 60 percent of the market for work group servers by utilizing its power of 95 percent share of the PC operating systems market.

This case will be ended in months or even next year. If the commision loses this case, "its reputation as Europe's top antitrust authority could be dented."However, if it wins, Microsoft will be forced to give a "worldwide license in perpetuity that involves its patents, copyright and trade secrets."

What caused Microsoft to be a monopoly company? Why do you prefer Microsoft when there are other alternatives available? --Initially, its creativity might let Microsoft become a monopoly company. Then, the size and the development of the company built its reputation. Finally, its reputation caused consumers to buy its products even though there are other alternatives available since Microsoft agreed to do some changes in its selling strategies. This process, however, can be hardly achieved by new companies which are willing to compete with Microsoft.
Therefore, my opinion is, if monopoly companies can set their prices appropriately, it is better to have legal monopoly companies rather than dealing with endless lawsuits.