That was more because they put a gun to people's head though wasn't it?

Docker on windows is pretty painful without docker desktop. You can certainly get it running without docker desktop, but the polish isn't there. As far as I know there is no way to install docker on windows manually and get integration with 3rd party tools. The closest I've come is using podman desktop. I think it has a way to go before it can be considered a drop in replacement

Isn't that just the standard Oracle playbook: increase prices and push people to alternatives? k8s has long dropped docker as a base technology, it really is the dockerhub default that makes docker relevant.