Even if it's bad that you can patent these kind of things it's understandable why MS does it. They rather patent it, or someone else will and then come back to sue Microsoft.
Remember, even if MS patents this doesn't mean they will sue everyone else that do a similiar thing. But in the corporate world you're either the predator or the prey. And when it comes to patents it's a very dirty and corrupt game, especially with software patents where everything can be patented, regardless how silly and insignificant it is.