I'm not going to write off Intel yet, but they're in a dangerous position. The number one reason Microsoft's stock has been moribund the past ten years is that Linux took over the datacenter. Imagine how much more revenue they'd have if the millions upon millions of X86 servers deployed since 2000 ran Windows. Instead, they're stuck in a saturated, slow-growth monopoly. If non-x86 chips take off in data centers, Intel will be in a similarly bad spot.
Microsoft Windows on Itanium was once marketed as the path forward for x86 applications, too.
Intel hasn't had particular success with microprocessor designs outside of its core x86 business. Examples of other designs include iAPX432, i860/i960, StrongARM/XScale and Itanium.
These architecture transitions don't always work out. While Apple has some experience with porting and has maked it look (relatively) easy, Windows hasn't had particular success with its ports, whether via Itanium's x86 emulation or via translation tools such as FX!32.
