Its important for novice users to have a system that works straight out of the box. I used to be a UNIX "guru" and have switched because of Mac OS X -- because it is UNIX. Apple and its Mac OS X is a beautiful marriage of power and ease. Since I have given my parents a Mac, they never call for tech support. If anything, that is greatest gift in the world for me. Nothing worst than having your mother screaming the seven words you can't say on TV so well that George Carlin would blush.
Do you really believe, in the absense of federal intervention, that Windows wouldn't have a lot of built-in apps?
I wish the Feds would not have gone after M$ for bundling but for its activities in forcing x86 manufacturers to buy licenses for Windows. It never hurt Apple but it did hurt Caledra and Be.
I've never figured out how Microsoft forced companies to buy their products. Did they use a gun? Or did they say "If you want this level of discount, you have to purchase this package of licenses"?