You make a lot of good points, and I concede the fact that Microsoft's business interests can jeopardize consumer choice and/or the adoption of a technology/product that is better in certain ways. However, computer technology is unlike other consumer products in how much interaction and inter-reliance there is between various independently purchased components. I would argue that the reason Microsoft's virtual monopoly stands is not necessarily that they have the absolute best browser or best OS, etc. but that having a standard platform/product allows for a much higher level of integration and more reliable performance from the other pieces of software/hardware that need to interact with it. Like you said, if you write a web page, you have to test it on the various browsers your clients might potentially use, and work around any inconsistencies. If you know that all (or at least the vast majority) of your clients will be using browser X, then you can build a more reliable web page and maybe even a better one if you can use particular features only supported by that one browser. It's my position that the adoption of a standard platform (almost to the point of being a monopoly) has real benefits that aren't outweighed by the imposition of a particular set of flaws that necessarily accompanies any product. At least with a larger user base, those flaws get discovered, and hopefully fixed, more quickly.
I think it has more to do with the kind of people that comprise the tech crowd. A lot of techies tend to be more anti-establishment (think open source) and often more arrogant than the average joe. This means 1) that they already have it in for any big organization that is imposing rules or standards (in the form of file formats, DRM, etc) that are not democratically adopted by the community, and 2) they like to think that they know how it could be done better. We also seem to hold them to very, very high standards; any flaw or problem is considered unacceptable. This may be because we expect better out of a company with so much money, talent, raw manpower, and committed user base. It may also just be that we like to complain. Haters gonna hate.
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You make a lot of good points, and I concede the fact that Microsoft's business interests can jeopardize consumer choice and/or the adoption of a technology/product that is better in certain ways. However, computer technology is unlike other consumer products in how much interaction and inter-reliance there is between various independently purchased components. I would argue that the reason Microsoft's virtual monopoly stands is not necessarily that they have the absolute best browser or best OS, etc. but that having a standard platform/product allows for a much higher level of integration and more reliable performance from the other pieces of software/hardware that need to interact with it. Like you said, if you write a web page, you have to test it on the various browsers your clients might potentially use, and work around any inconsistencies. If you know that all (or at least the vast majority) of your clients will be using browser X, then you can build a more reliable web page and maybe even a better one if you can use particular features only supported by that one browser. It's my position that the adoption of a standard platform (almost to the point of being a monopoly) has real benefits that aren't outweighed by the imposition of a particular set of flaws that necessarily accompanies any product. At least with a larger user base, those flaws get discovered, and hopefully fixed, more quickly.
I think it has more to do with the kind of people that comprise the tech crowd. A lot of techies tend to be more anti-establishment (think open source) and often more arrogant than the average joe. This means 1) that they already have it in for any big organization that is imposing rules or standards (in the form of file formats, DRM, etc) that are not democratically adopted by the community, and 2) they like to think that they know how it could be done better. We also seem to hold them to very, very high standards; any flaw or problem is considered unacceptable. This may be because we expect better out of a company with so much money, talent, raw manpower, and committed user base. It may also just be that we like to complain. Haters gonna hate.