In the past decade, Microsoft has acquired nearly 10 times as many companies as Apple, and spent nearly nine times as many dollars on research and development.Yet Microsoft's stock price performance has stagnated these last 10 years, while Apple has soared to its current status as the world's most valuable tech firm, a title wrenched away from Microsoft just last week.Apple tops Microsoft as world's most valuable tech firmDow Jones investment banker Sameer Bhatia says Apple has succeeded where Microsoft has not by focusing obsessively on user-friendliness. While Microsoft trots out new versions of Windows, Apple has found new tech markets to dominate by creating the iPod, iPhone and iPad, he notes.