[Luca]

Originally Posted by apple007 Perhaps, but I think you've gone wrong by blaming the "unlimited number of possible hardware configurations" for Windows' bad reputation. To me, if you strip away all third-party accessories and applications, the Mac OS not only "just works" but it's a joy to work with. But Windows, under the same no-third-party apps/accessories scenario, is still clunky, user-unfriendly and a generally joyless experience. (In other words, in Windows' case, you can neither polish a turd, nor cover it up with third-party helpers.) (EDIT: I'm seriously not trying to resurrect the old Mac OS vs. Windows debate with my comments above. All I was trying to say is that the Mac OS, out of the box, provides a great experience, while Windows, out of the box and absent any third-party apps, still seems incredibly user-unfriendly, and not much fun (if any) to use.)

I agree. Windows is never going to be as user-friendly or reliable as OS X, even if their places were switched and MS were the ones severely curtailing the number of supported hardware configurations. However, they can still try to improve things. To claim that MS shouldn't even try is utter folly, when you think about how much Mac users criticize Windows for being unreliable. Maybe they just want it to stay that way so OS X stays superior, but I think improving reliability by trying to get a little more control over the hardware people use can benefit everyone. Even Mac users, since everyone has to work with Windows users at some point.

Basically, the way I think MS sees it is that the release of Vista was an opportunity for a clean slate. Wipe out all the old XP crap and try to do things a little better this time around. It'll never be as good as OS X but it can improve.

Originally Posted by Satchmo These MS Geniuses may have their hearts in the right place, but inevitably, someone with a hardware configuration that is so obscure or modded that they'll simply end up saying, 'we can't help you'.

Oh, this can happen with Macs too. Look at some of the tech support questions we've gotten here. One poor guy bought a game for his Mac only to realize later that the game was so old it doesn't run on OS X. There are plenty of Mac users out there who have really old computers and try to get them to work with new software, and in some cases it just can't work.

Obviously, the same thing can happen with Windows machines, and it can get harder in that most Windows machines allow you to replace nearly every component. So while a Mac user might bring in a 300 MHz iBook running OS 9 wondering why he can't play World of Warcraft or watch YouTube, a PC owner might haul in his ten-year-old Gateway 2000 and ask why he can't get this new graphics card he just bought to work in it. There are certainly many more possibilities that can crop up when you look at Windows users and the crazy problems they might bring in, but it's not exclusive to Windows.

Originally Posted by Satchmo At this point, MS is grasping at straws. There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason, focus or vision. They're simply reactionary these days. Opening up retail stores will only raise comparisons with Apple, bringing further embarassment to MS. While MS is still a powerful force, it's certainly a far cry from the 80's heydays.

I sort of agree with this. They do seem to be more desperate these days, and they're casting their net as wide as they can in an attempt to catch something that could possibly make them some money. Who knows what'll succeed and what won't? The Zune failed miserably, and looking back, it seems they weren't even trying. The Xbox and Xbox 360 still have an uncertain future, with 360 sales slipping compared to the PS3 amid sky-high failure rates.

MS's situation seems a lot like the U.S. military's situation these days. They're still the king of the hill, on paper, but they're spread too thin and it's exposing all these vulnerabilities that weren't visible before.

Anyway, to clarify my own personal opinion on this matter: I don't know if it'll work. I agree MS is in sort of a tough spot and I'm not really defending them so much as coming up with a plausible explanation for why they're doing this. This is to counterbalance the "zOMG MS is copying Apple!" posts.