I haven't read this entire thread, but this is my view....
Microsoft has for years been overcharging for thier OS's and other software, software that is buggy, software that doesn't do what it's advertised to do. They have been selling junk to everyone, and instead of giving us a refund, or actually fixing their product, they just make a new version and expect you to pay full price for it. So what happens? You buy it, it's still broken, and they won't fix it.
Would you put up with buying any other retail product that doesn't work? In most cases I doubt it, but there is a difference. There really isn't a viable alternative to Windows for the most part. Yeah yeah, I know about all the Unix based systems out there and how great they are, but for the vast majority of users they are not a viable option. Macs? Never used one myself, but I hear it's a superior platform to the PC. Don't doubt it a bit. But the world is PC based and I'd imagine you'd be pretty limited to the software you could buy for them.
So most of us are stuck with Windows. Microsoft steals from and cheats millions of people every year. Who cares if someone burns a copy of XP, or downloads Office 2000? I certainly don't. I'd like a copy of Win2000 pro and XP pro from Microsoft for free, just to make up for the money I wasted on 3.1, 95, 98 and Me. I think they owe me that much.....