I use to dislike microsoft but they did something that I'll never forget. When they dropped the price of the xbox and they gave away the two free games and the free controllers to the people that bought it before the price drop, I asked if they'd send it to me on my birthday and they did :P

Since I only use mac osx now, my dislike of microsoft has cooled as their entertainment division is far more reasonable then the rest of the company.

Burgles said: I'm basically asking, why does everyone hate Microsoft... I'm always seeing micrsoft's "s" spelt with a "$" sign. This the significance of this is obvious, so I ask to these people... Are you aware of how much "$" Bill Gates has personally donated to charity? (Virtually all of his fortune, we're talking BILLIONS). ...Is it not to be expected that any company that has a monopoly is going to be critisized constantly, take for example the bundling of WMPIE with windows XP, whats wrong with this? Doesn't Apple do EXACTLY the same thing? If there was a basis for all the slandering it wouldn't really bother me, but there's nothing worse than seeing uninformed people spelling Microsoft as "Micro$oft" for no reason that they can substantiate other than to jump on the bandwagon. I'd just like a coherant explanation if anyone would be so kind as to give one. I've heard all about the anti-trustanti-competetive practicses that are publised in the EU etc, but to be quite honest. I can't see how this means they deserve the flack they get. The main people that are complaining are other companies, NOT the consumer. The only people who I see who have a genuine bone to pick are the harcore Linux users, and it seems thats where the "$" has filtered from...down to the masses of people who install Linux just to show off and don't actually have a clue how to use it. /End rant

you know who I hate more than microsoft? idiots that ask why i hate microsoft.

 

Blue Screen of Death.

Windows 98.

Red Ring of Death. (Although not a problem for me since I don't own an Xbox 360)

Clippy.

Bloat.

Selling operating systems with superficial enhancements as new.

The quality of their products has nothing to do with their success.

...Did I miss anything?

 

Simple..... I don't like their products. reason's why:

Zune Windows Vista 360

Mr.Y said: Blue Screen of Death. Windows 98. Red Ring of Death. (Although not a problem for me since I don't own an Xbox 360) Clippy. Bloat. Selling operating systems with superficial enhancements as new. The quality of their products has nothing to do with their success. ...Did I miss anything?

 

Windows Genuine Advantage

Internet Explorer

Outlook

Office 2007

Steve Ballmer

Xbox Live fee

Most people hate microsoft just because they are worried that ms will take over the gaming industry. Just like they did with computers.

Funny how people whine about windows but still they use it daily. :)

Beja-Beja said: I hate M$ cuz they are slimy lil bastards who snuck their way into the game indusry and while i acknowldege their contributions to gaming usally all they do is throw their money aroung to steal games and wrangle exclusive agreements all o hurt Sony. Its ridiculous they would accomplish so much more if they travelled their own path instead of constantly tying to black the competition. RROD also royally pissed me off! I think Bill gates is a wonderful man he is a philantrhopists nad has made generaous donations to a hospital where i frequent. However Bil gates is no longer a major part of M$ and even if hew was it wouldn't chaneg how i feel about them plus VISTA SUX ASS. Vent over.

LOL!!!!

They've been involved in gaming longer than Sony has... Hell the architecture on whichever system is your beloved is ONLY possible due to their contributions to gaming...

Have you heard of Direct x 1-11? Its developed between AMD - Nvidia - Microsoft and Intel mostly as a unifying standard. Without it, the GPUs in the consoles would be little more than a pipe dream, they helped markedly increase the rate of innovation for the GPU industry by setting a standard and helping everyone get on board towards the same goal.

 

Kurakasa said: Most people hate microsoft just because they are worried that ms will take over the gaming industry. Just like they did with computers. Funny how people whine about windows but still they use it daily. :)

 

Yep, the only people that should be bitching about them are workers who are forced to use M$ products.  If you don't like Windows, use Linux.  I personally do not have a problem with Windows.  Maybe that is because I know what the hell I am doing.  I own a Zune(free from Live Search Club, I use to play a lot when I was a manager at a theatre) and it is great(it doesn't have the hipster appeal of Apple products though).  I guess people do not understand the pitfalls of compatibilities and legacy code.

 

And nicely done Squilliam

Kyros said: Business is business. Successful companies adapt, beg, borrow and steal. No they don't! This only works for a while in a real market. Give to the customer, what the customer wants! Is still the main business sentence and the basis for a long successful live as a business. Customers may be stupid but if they start to loose trust in a company you have a huge problem. So you may make more money by being the company equivalent of an asshole but this won't last. So but why is Microsoft so profitable then and has been for years? Because its a damn monopoly. IT makes almost all of its profit with its Operating System and Office products both of which have essentially no competition to fear because MS has 95% of the market in both. In almost all sectors where this doesn't help them they suck. Their Zune player is a failure. XBOX a huge money sink. Online they are killed by Google. Their mobile OS plays second fiddle to Symbian and has a bleak future against Android and Apple. They are modestly successful in databases and web servers (after years of losses and suckitude in both) and have great development tooling with Visual Studio but this is peanuts.

You have a choice. Period. No one is putting a gun to your head and telling you to buy any MS product. Buy a laptop with XP, uninstall it and put on the OS of your choice. Yeah, including Linux and OSX. It's not a monopoly - a state having just one power company is a monopoly. M$ offers products that you can choose to buy or not. Consumers RARELY get what they want. I want a car that can fly, go 500 mph and go underwater. Will I get that car? I couldn't afford it and no one could buy it for me anyhow.

We are presented options and can buy it based on what's available with some leeway for personalization. And your hate for MS products runs deep. The Zune has brought some rather cool features to the MP3 market, including built-in wifi, the ability to beam songs to other Zunes, built-in FM radio (on a video playing MP3 player). And really, your opinion is really just that in the end - your biased opinion.

You should give credit to where credit is due. If something that you think sucks is a success, quit playerhating and acknowledge it is a success. Whether you or I or anyone thinks it should succeed isn't the point. The point is - it has succeeded and how you will embrace or shun the product.

 

No I don't. I have the choice to use an Operating System where 50% of the applications I NEED for work, hobby, home do not work. I mean in 95% of all cases I cannot even buy the damn PC without Windows.

That's no choice.



The first Zune was freaking HUGE. Lying besides an iPod with bigger HD it looked like a book. And the second Zune is too little too late. But I didn't say anything about quality I said that its a huge failure. And since nobody buys the damn thing this can hardly be disputed. This is no opinion.



If this is done in a fair competitive environment I have no problem with that. But this isn't a fair and competitive environment, this is a monopoly. And normally we have laws that forbid these kind of things. Microsoft was so close before being broken up by the government but they wriggled out of it. This should give you some food for thought.