But you see, Adorno, for the 5% or so of users for whom Apple stuff is the right choice, it works REALLY well. They love it because it works really well. Seriously -- it's not blind brand loyalty, it's loyalty because the stuff does what they want it to do, without a lot of hassle.
I know, I know, you can't conceive of Apple's brand loyalty being for actual reasons like "it works really well for {me}".
The point is, if Microsoft had ever done the extra work (that Apple, in general, did) to make sure their products were designed that well and worked that well, they too would have that kind of fanatical following, and they'd be a lot more successful that they are already.
Apple's fanatical fan base is a RESULT, not a CAUSE, of how the company does things. And Microsoft's user base opinion of that company is likewise a result, not a cause of how Microsoft does things.
I look forward to the MS fanbase picking up interest now that MS is doing great hardware. It's about time.