My biggest problem with XP is the precedent.
Like I told someone else, can you imagine such a precedent taking hold, where nobody really complains, and one day they wake up and find they have to call Ford or Chevy to get their car started??? Or SONY to turn on their radios? Or Kelloggs to be able to open up the box of corn flakes?
Some doors should never be opened.
I'm as free market as they come, but I don't like that kind of crap. When ME gets threadbare, I suppose I'll have to give Linux a shot. From the rumors of Longhorn, and that "lockbox", they'll likely have those dang fry cooks authorizing your being able to play a .wav file or open a picture from Aunt Bertha.
....I owe my soul to the company store....
A one time, prior to the key, there were hundreds of thousands of used computers, perhaps millions that were being resold though jobber warehouses in Texas and other places. They never paid a nickel for the software and all these people ragged Microsoft for computers that did not work or software that was unsupported.
I was forced as a business man at the time to agree with what they did, because I could not come up with a better way to do it. They were really getting whacked by the fallout. They took their time and acted prudently, but I do understand your perception.