Apple never does that. The company controls both hardware and software and ensures that every system is one they can be proud of in terms of performance. Granted Microsoft has a different style, a different model -- and it if weren't for Microsoft's model, how many companies wouldn't exist today such as Dell, HP, and so forth? But it causes a hit-or-miss experience with Vista that has damaged the reputation of the Vista OS undeservingly.

Personally, I've used Vista since Beta 3 on all sorts of different systems. They were all perfect for Vista (2GB of RAM and a solid processor speed). I couldn't be happier with the OS and I'm not alone.

Yet Microsoft does appear to feel users' pain -- and is willing to accept some responsibility for it. Last month, at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston, Brad Brooks, corporate vice president of Windows consumer product marketing, spoke very honestly about Vista and the disappointment people feel toward it -- and Microsoft.

He said, "We had an ambitious plan. We made some significant investments around security in this product. And you know what, those investments, they broke some things. They broke a lot of things. We know that. And we know it caused you a lot of pain in front of your customers, in front of our customers. And it got a lot of customers thinking, and even yourselves and our partners thinking, 'Hey, is Windows Vista a generation that I want to make an investment in?'"

Indeed, Microsoft realizes the mistakes it's made. The company is willing to make up for it, and it's poised to rise up like an awakened giant to engage in a battle that has been brewing for a good year now -- little guy Mac taking one slap at Microsoft after another with no response thus far. More marketing campaigns will be attempted; some will fail, and some will succeed. But overall, from my enterprise perspective, it's the quality of the product, how it runs in our environment, how it works with our other applications, how comfortable and productive our users are with it, and the price; these are the things that are going to determine the future.

Brooks tried to encourage folks not to wait two more years for Windows 7, but to make the investment now because it will be based on the same Windows Vista architecture. People have been cursing the new OS, but perhaps with the new marketing, perhaps with more admissions of error on the part of higher-up Microsoft players, perhaps thanks to improvements in the OS with SP1 (such as driver compatibility problems), that "wow" that Microsoft promised may eventually come through.

What about you? Are you done with Microsoft, or just frustrated? Can you see your users moving to Mac or Ubuntu? Do you think they are ready for that extreme interface change? Do you have the training resources available to get them through it?