OpenSource is a good idea and free browsers are nice but in the end it is he who can exploit technology the quickest and the broadest who wins.
Microsoft has done both and thus companies normally develop under their OS and thus use their products as the standard for if their application works or not. Since 8 out of 10 households will use some version of IE it is safe to assume that if your page works on IE you are at the very least providing your service to 80% of the population who owns a browser.
It just comes down to economics and it's still the guys with the money that get favored. Regardless of how you feel about Microsoft the truth is they are the dominant force in operating systems and in PCs. If it runs on a Microsoft product you are pretty much guaranteed a lot of users will be able to use your software and/or your website.
And I dunno about Pendragon but in my line of work the only promoting I see is done by people far higher in the food chain than I. In fact I let the company decide when and how they want to do things and when it's all figured out....I simply provide what they want in code.
