@Tony.....lets 'tangent'
I will tell you why I love Microsoft.
I get almost all products free in one way or the other,you just need to be smart.
Uniformity.Its a great thing especially in the corporate world.If you have get into a new company and find e.g a microsoft server,you know where to start from and how to connect and do stuff on it. It's great for people like me in IT.
I think as long as you have a good original installation,a good anti-virus as well and some connection to the net for updates,you are set. If you don't,maybe go the open source way.
I also wonder why people complain about MS taking up too much resource,too much memory,HDD space.........why the hell did one buy Core2Duo or 4GB ram and 320GB HDD drives!?Did you buy it to 'keep it safe' or to use and test your machine to the limits?!
'When I sell liquor,it's called bootlegging; when my patrons serve it on Lake Shore Drive,it's called hospitality'-Al Capone
Formally employed people often live their employers' dream & forget about their own.