What are your general feelings about Microsoft?

It's the time of week once more ... and we're gonna put up a poll that can be considered a bit controversial.

Each person has a different opinion about how Microsoft conducts business and/or makes its products. The weird thing is that it seems you either love em or you hate em. I know many people have strong feels for and against Microsoft... so this poll is your chance to air your side ...

My view on microsoft:

They did revolutionize the computer industry. They made a user friendly OS which made computer accessible, and usable by millions of people who keeps us helpdesk workers in business.

They also conduct some business in ways I consider shady. The whole windows packaging thing is pretty shady.

Their software is buggy, but thats because they try to make it everything to everyone. Meaning they try to make it able to everything, very flexible which it is...and that has down falls. the exception to this of course is ME... there is no excuse for that OS.

I think microsoft is a very important company in the computer industry... no one has the capital, or the resources at tap like they do, but I am seeing them more as a monopoly now. I beleive that they are becoming unhealthy for the computer industry and change is needed so there is competition.

(i would like to point out that at this point in time 100% of the voters agree with me )

hah. i think they are pure evil. i also know they revolutionized the os. and they do make buggy software. i had a hard time choosing one. only one that isnt true is misunderstood.

Um..no they did not revolutionize the computer industry with their OSs. Macs did that when PCs were still stuck in a DOS world. Primarily Xerox if you want to nit pick.

I am purely indifferent to MS in some aspects and angry in others. I thank MS for making a single standard in regard to the OS. I dislike MS for trying to shoehorn me into using MS services.

If they are going to make an OS, make it unbiased. It pisses me off to pay good $ for an OS and see it come with advertising on it. Say what!!!

Other then that, I think they make excellent mice, keyboards and joysticks. Their peripheral division makes top quality products and have no complaint in this regard.

No, most of my problems with MS is their OS division. I would like to see a clean OS bereft of all the advertisements and doors to their internet service.

As for the rest, I think they are suffering because they have been too successful in their market. With that said, I will leave by saying that they are by no means a nice clean company...they are the epitome of free capitalism...make the holy $ at all cost. They aren't the only company that does this..just take a closer look at their competition...yeah..the ones that speak most vociferously about MS. They would give their eye teeth and possibly their mother to be in such a strong market share as MS. They would do all the dirty deeds that MS has done to get there…isn’t that what a free market full of corporations are all about?

who owns dos again?

I feel that there needs to be some improvement made in the way they release software. I feel that most of the software is released way too early! The old release it now and fix it later routine is not exceptable! People pay good money for the product and they should do every thing in their power to ensure a satisfactory product. Overall though to be fair Microsoft has made some improvements over the years and I'm sure they will do whatever it takes to stay on top. Just my opinion.

I voted .... "Just another American business that strives to be successful - no matter the cost" .... and I just think that all of you that voted against MS .... is just jealous that Bill Gates is NOT your father or grandfather!

um, why would you connect disapproval of the company with any emotion toward the former ceo?

Red? You think that DOS was a groundbreaking OS? I most certainly don't. I think Dos sucked rotten eggs. I was in the wysiwyg OSs of Macs and Amigas...one of the reasons why I moved over to PCs was Win95.

As for DOS being MS's...everyone knows that...fact is IBM let that one slip through their fingers.

Chako...yeah I seen the whole thing in Pirates of Silicon Valley...Bill is just a great businessman. He saw potential in DOS, and IBM didn't...their loss. It also showed how Bill borrowed apple's GUI... No matter who dropped the ball on what... microsoft ended up with it, and despite what anyone thinks... they revolutionized the computer industry. I still say D, E, and possibly B

didnt say dos was wonderful. revolutionary and innovative can be negative. but dos is the worldwide standard, except for macs, so they sure did something right.

Well, I use to think that Microsoft was the best. I thought they had everything were good, and had great programs. But.....

Once I started learning about the "real" Microsoft, I learned that they are all not that great. They make buggy programs and monopolize the computer world. THEY ARE EVIL!!

Synonymous to bad business practices and buggy software.

Why don't they just try real hard and then release a stable OS that supports everything (dunno if that's possible) instead of releasing a POS every damn year, like WinME.

[edit] Oops, it was about M$, not windows
I don't like MS but I don't hate it either, I just don't care. If their X-box sells better than PS2 and Gamecube, good for them, I still won't buy either of them.
The only MS thing I use is windows, if everything else they make is as bad as that then maybe I should have voted for "pure evil"...

Um...Red...where did you get the impression that MS made DOS? They bought it off of a small company called CP/M. Furthermore, once they ripped it off, they tried to prevent CP/M from using their own product. Seeing that they didn't outright sell the OS to MS, they finally won their day in court. Regardless, QDOS died under the juggernaut called MSDOS.

Read this. It is an interesting read...and further provides some proof of what I am saying.

http://www.euronet.nl/users/frankvw/IhateMS.html