It may be a bit of a chicken & egg thing. All the people I've seen regularly using Windows laptops carry around a wireless mouse with them that gets used anytime they're using it for an extended period, presumably because the trackpad is so bad. That's going to mean MS' metrics say most people use a mouse, even when a trackpad is available, in which case why bother improving it?
That's what I used to do, when I was a Windows and Linux user, because the trackpad on PC laptops was intolerable to use for more than about one minute (and I could never get the hang of trackpoint).
Developed a habit, like checking that I had my keys and wallet, when taking my laptop anywhere. Grab the mouse, grab the power supply, throw them in the bag, because the trackpad was always nigh-unusable and the battery life was only good enough for hopping between outlets unless you had a (charged!) extra battery to carry along.
Took some time to break those habits after switching to Macbooks, where neither was necessary unless I'd be away from my desk more than a day. Unplug laptop, pick up, walk away, don't think about anything else. Go figure, a portable computer that lets you treat it like it's portable.
