Comments on: Microsoft tries to reclaim Windows' image

After years of letting Apple's attack ads go unanswered, software maker sets out on difficult, costly journey of trying to take back control of what Windows stands for.

[samkass]

"You decide what color of PC you are going to have,"

Beige, black, gray, off-black, off-beige, gray-black, beige-gray...

[gsekse]

NO, all you need is a spray can and you have neon green, yellow and red!

Oh wait... you can do that with ANY machine. Maybe people DO buy a machine based on what they can get done with it. Sure Ipods and apples are pretty, but if they functioned like a brick, they still would only sell to the fanatics. The problem is that MS has sucked so bad that normal people are booting up Linux or going to Apple.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Or red, yellow, blue, green, whatever color you want. The decision is yours. If you want beige, buy beige. The decision is all yours and you are the only one that is repsonsible for it.

[Penguinisto]

Actually, the decision is Dell's, and HP's.

Not quite perfectly relevant, but... given that my Hackintosh looks nothing like an Apple product, and further given that the internals are built exactly to my specifications, I'd say that I get all the superficial customization I could ever want with the thing (and not just a little internal customization as well...) ;)

[Renegade Knight]

Try and build your own Mac.

[Penguinisto]

err... I did already.

See also http://osxx86.org

[Penguinisto]

heh - hosed the URL. correct one is: http://www.osx86project.org/

[Savagerush]

Or you could get a Mac and have Metal color.....no, that's it......What an individual you are!! You are breaking the mold!! You have the same computer as all the emo dorks. Good work Apple!

[ckurowic]

Signs of a desperate company. Who honestly thinks that negative comments are good so long as people are talking about your product? That is a ridiculous argument, Microsoft. So, does a High-school teenager go about their day happily prancing about because people "talk about them" even though they are really saying what a *expletive* they are?

[Vegaman_Dan]

Ironically, Apple does. Even with all the bad press the iPhone and MobileMe has generated, it does goes the name out there. Does that mean the iPhone is a failure? Think carefully before you answer.

[Renegade Knight]

It's a valid and proven argument based on fact. More than a few "annoying" commercials had great success selling a product. A point to your credit though, the one I'm thinking of did have a quality product...

[techslut]

Microsoft must be thinking about the saying that if you're not talked about, you're a nobody. What they fail to realise is, in their case, it doesn't make any difference.

[ckurowic]

To Vegaman_Dan: I have thought carefully, and the fact is that Apple has not publicly stated that any press, even if it is bad, is really good as Microsoft has.

[ofmyony]

Vista is horrible. I think Microsoft should have put more weight on user experience instead of making the program run itself. I mean the automatic update feature is the most annoying feature I have ever seen and the malicious software tool is horrible and annoying. Microsoft stop trying to bust users for pirated copies and make your software work well for the users not your own interest. Microsoft spent 300 million on this campaign to brainwash its customers,

Make a better product and let word of mouth be your saving grace. Microsoft will be out of business if Windows 7 is a bust. I think it is dead now but they are a huge company and will last a little while.

I guess it is time for the Microsoft fanboys to speak up their dear product Windows and IE and Office and Windows Live and the Zune are looming disasters. How many products can a company destroy in 1 year

[Penguinisto]

Well, look at it this way: AIDS gets bad press. How many people do you think rush out to get infected?

[sportsfan206]

Desperate company??? Look, they are still the dominate OS out there, and are FAR from desperation. I mean, if you take the current swicting from Windows to Mac, Apple may have the majority market share in something like the year 2091. Come on, Microsoft isn't afraid of Mac OS, or anybody for that matter. This is just an example of a big company doing what big companies do, spinning. Anyway, this is about a freaking commercial, not a product! You seriously believe they are desperate because they are trying to put a positive note on they bad press they are receiving from a commercial? Come on people, have some perspective.

[Penguinisto]

Yep - Windows is the dominant OS... but their marketshare is slipping almost everywhere you look, and they have no credible answer to it (unless you count strong-arming OEM's like Dell and HP into shipping Vista pre-loads as an "answer").

Apple went from 2-3%, to ~10% of the overall PC marketshare in less than 7 years... 4% of that gain was in the last year alone. The curve (for them) only seems to be climbing upward. In 2000, Microsoft owned 95% of the desktop Market. Now, I suspect they have just over 80% or so, and dropping.

Desperate? IMHO, not yet - if they were, they'd actually do more than chalk it up to "bad PR" as the reason why the whole planet turned its collective nose up at Vista. If they were desperate, they'd actually do something --anything-- to reverse their losses, instead of mere talk and the occasional creative accounting to claim a bigger share than they actually have.

I figure that once Apple gets to 15-20% (call it by Q1/Q2 of 2010), Microsoft will finally start doing something at the code and sales level about their overall and growing predicament... if they can actually do so by then.

Right now, corporations can get by on keeping XP around, especially larger ones that have monster support contracts that guarantee patches and etc. But by 2010, those corporations are going to have two choices:

1) Windows 7 should be out by then... maybe it'll actually do what Vista couldn't?

2) Linux and/or OSX, where applicable. By then OSX should have enough enterprise features to make it compelling, and Linux (at the corp workstation) generally user-friendly enough to make it compelling.

Thing is, Microsoft really doesn't have as much time as it would first appear. Businesses will start evaluating "what next after XP?" by next year at the earliest, and already the larger ones are running trials with OSX and Linux as potential alternatives.

If MSFT screws up Windows 7 as bad as they did Vista, they stand to lose a lot more than just a little face.

[delder]

Most likely Microsoft will out-source these "guru" positions to low paid temp workers, just like they do their partner program support.

[jasonlotito]

Can't be any worse then the Genius people that Apple hires. Sorry, but when I get a laptop back where the problem isn't fixed, and has new problems, something is wrong. One trip every week for 6 weeks, constantly sending my wife's laptop in for repairs. And most of the problems only started AFTER the first repair. Of course, we've had to get every single one of her Macs repaired within a year of buying it.

[msalter]

Sorry to hear that, jasonlotito. I have had Macs since 1995-7 of them-and have problems with only 2. An old iMac DV SE that after 30 days just died and CompUSA was too stupid to figure out the problem and Apple sent me a new one, and the "moon base" iMac that died 3 months before Apple Care expired and Apple sent me a new Intel based iMac. No problems with any of the others. Have a Blessed Day, Mike

[RompStar_420]

MS is lame these days, Office 2007 is a shame too....

[Vegaman_Dan]

As is your comment.

Try again with useful interaction and thoughts.

[Seaspray0]

Apple is lame these days, the iphone is a sham too... Wow, that's easy! But if that's all I did, day after day, everyone would think I'm a shill like RompStar_420.

[drentwong]

I was really disappointed at the Microsoft ad.
I guess i expected more, but i am comparing it against all the apple ads.
Guess i wasn't comparing apples to apples

I see MS now has Windows Gurus good to see they will be helping customers, maybe even stopping a few from dumping vista and getting a mac.

Only time will tell

[starflyer88]

>>It's been about 18 hours since Microsoft started running its Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld ad and the negative comments continue to pour in.

Uh, I see three comments here. What a flood. Could we see a reference or some proof of that claim?

[Vegaman_Dan]

new.cnet.com. Plenty of comments there. You're on that site now, in fact. Go back to the main page and choose from any of the other articles.

[The_Decider]

The comments here are about this article. Try using your brain and look at earlier articles.

[ChuckieChen]

find the ad on youtube.com and see the flood of bad comments there.

[shashazham]

"Windows stands for living on your own terms." ....as long as your own terms are being required to buy Vista even if you'd prefer XP, and having to buy new hardware to run with Vista since the existing stuff you have isn't compatible...

[Vegaman_Dan]

You know, it's funny- I went to the car dealership and looked at the Mustangs, but they only offered big engines in them even though I wanted the 4 cylinder engine they have in the Focus. That's not acceptable. We should complain loudly about a company having the nerve to decide what they want to offer to the public. They have no right to make that decision. The public is supposed to control what the products are.

That reminds me, I miss the Chicken Little mini sandwiches that KFC had back in the early 90's. I don't like the chicken sandwiches they have now. We should all demand they stop production and sales of all other products until they offer what I want only.

Now if you honestly believe any of that, then you need to get your head out of the sand and wake up to the real world.

[Penguinisto]

@Dan: That's funny, because the person you;re replying to spoke of "computers", not "Dell XPS". The person you;re speaking to is referring to software, not pure hardware matters (e.g. engine size), and last I checked there are about a ton of options for soft items on a Mustang like color, stereo, A/C, etc etc.

As for the rest? Well, your post here explains perfectly why so many folks are buying Apple computers these days. Dell and HP doesn't give them what they want, they're stuck with incompatibilites (or justifiable fears of same), so why not start fresh with a Mac, where at least you don't get your machine bogged down and the hardware requirements aren't stratospherical?

[shashazham]

Vegaman_Dan I think the difference is that if KFC or Ford bring out a new product that is a complete piece of garbage they are not able to force it down the throat of consumers by forcing virtually all vendors to carry their new piece of crap only.

Windows has such a large share of the market that your analogy should go something more like ford has 95% of all car dealerships and they're not going to sell or service any vehicles except their new mustang, which costs more, gets 2mpg, tops out at 20mph and breaks down at least once every 100 miles.

[eliteaux]

Well, it is about time they made some effort to adequately tune PC's prior to their boxing. It's amazing how many unnecessary processes, start-ups, and prepackaged software damage system start time and hibernation return. After many years of tuning my XP box I finally have it down to a science. My computer now runs (prior to starting any software) 14 processes, has an average commit charge of 150M, and completes start-up in just under 30 seconds. Granted it took me years to achieve the adequate settings, and compile the write-up.

[Segerholm]

And now they want you to change to Vista:-)

[Lerianis]

Bull. Please post these 'settings' you are talking about. Frankly, my computer runs a lot more processes than that just to surf the internet, and I have it tuned very well.
I think that you are spouting bull, because, simply put..... it takes more than 14 processes just to run XP without any application or services except Windows Explorer.

[rapier1]

So I was watching TV last night and the commercial with Bill Gates in the shoe store came on. I thought it was weird and I expected it to say something about technology but it never did. So when it was over I though 'well, that was weird but ineffective'. Then my wife hit rewind on the Tivo. She watched it a total of 3 times laughing hysterically by the end. She's complete non-technical (nearly technophobic) and doesn't give a damn about computers. All she knows is that she has to get me when she can't get her e-mail. And there she is - laughing and enjoying herself because of a Microsoft commercial.

So the commercial might not be making the geeks happy but maybe it's not supposed to be for the geeks. Maybe the goal was to get non-technical people interested enough to pay attention when the next commercial comes out. If that is the goal then they may have succeeded.

Also, I really want a churro now.

[Vegaman_Dan]

The geeks are not the market that any computer OEM will go after. Geeks don't make their decisions based on any ads. Now getting the average consumer to stop and listen- that's much harder. And those are the people that have the money. That's the market you want to go after.

[t26l]

Well, it worked for Apple. They get non-technical people to buy Macs because Justin Long looks a lot cooler than that old guy in a suit.

[Penguinisto]

Well, for what it's worth, Microsoft could've (and has) done worse:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL4hyATkQ74

(and yes, that is a MSFT commercial, and yes, that is Steve Ballmer).

[kevsmail]

I don't understand all the negative comments. If Windows can improve their support and better the user's experience, more power to them. It's about time they started cleaning up their act w/Vista.

This focus on competition will be good for the consumers!

p.s. I did like the Seinfeld/Gates ad better than any of the smug Apple one to date. (except the 1984 Mac ad)

[The_Decider]

An advertisement doesn't address all the compatibility, security, usability, and driver issues that plague Vista.

Have we degenerated so far that PR spin has replaced actual competency?

[Mr. Dee]

25 million Mac users vs 1Billion Windows users? Please! Choosing a computer is a matter of taste, a minority seems to like Linux and Apple while the majority of the worlds PC users select Windows as a choice that does most of what they want a computer for in addition to giving them the out of the box experience they need to do whatever they do at home or work. Justin Long vs PC is using the same old theme of the early 90's when Mac was pretty much a easier choice for first time PC users. But that theme died with Windows 95. Both Windows and OS X are easy to use, but I don't see the Mac being a better choice. Its just perception and the fact that alternatives are having a louder voice because Microsoft has remained silent for so long.

[The_Decider]

The majority do not 'select' or 'choose' windows. They go into Best Buy or Wal-Mart and buy what is offered to them.

The majority couldn't even explain, at a conceptual level, what an operating system is.

[catch23]

The_Decider
years ago that might have been true. But not now. Even 'average Joe' customers know there are options in what runs their computers. They do indeed choose Windows.
People like you need to look at FireFox. They stopped boo-hoo'ing, they stopped blaming lack of success on everything but themselves, and they went out and built a better product.
People noticed, and they now enjoy a considerable share of the market.
That is the way the system works. I guess it is just easier to blame MS

[The_happy_switcher]

Millions of flies also enjoying eating s**t. Should we follow their example, too?

[vmlenigma]

There are Billions of Cockroaches in this world, but just because there are Billions of them it doesn't make them the Smartest things on the planet...same goes to PC users....

[sflocal]

What metrics do you use to base ease-of-use between Windows and OSX? Personally and professionally I use both. I've administered Windows for 20+years and am a 2-year user of OSX. All the Windows machines require constant hand-holding and hope that they run a week without something causing a cascading system failure. OSX on the other hand has not given me nor anyone else any problems. It's a set-it-and-forget-it system where Windows is a set-it-and-pray model. I make my living on the windows platform because I know people will always require expert assistance to keep it running. But when I need to keep my sanity and actually use a computer for productive work, I use OSX. Every since my own personal and corporate Apple purchases, I've never looked back.

[solitare_pax]

Most people don't get the luxury of a choice. Its Windows or nothing. Just like you used to have to choose between a big hamburger or a small one at McDonalds - and that was that.

[lkmd]

Mr. Dee has never used a mac computer and probably will not as a matter of principle. Im sure he has invested a few dollars in microsoft products and the thought of switching is overwhelming. The educational level and intellect of mac users is significantly higher than microsoft users. This being said there are certain people who should never buy a mac as this would degrade this statistic. I thought the ad was great, funny and quirky. Maybe Bill is looking to enter hollywood. Im sure apple will have a heyday with its new ads making fun of delicious computers. What the h..l is that.

lk

[b_baggins]

Apple saw seen 32% growth in Mac sales last year. That's in the consumer market; Apple doesn't do enterprise. That means people who CAN choose their computers are choosing Macs in greater and greater numbers (corporate drones don't get to choose their computers; IT does that).

MS sees the trend. Where people can choose, they choose Apple.

[professionaladventurer]

Microsoft just now realized boot time is an issue?

[kylebuttermore]

there are a ton of things you can do to speed up boot times, mine is 30 seconds, 10 when in hibernation

[The_Decider]

Boot time isn't an issue if your machine is running for hours, days, months, or years continuously. With all the mandatory reboots in Windows, it is a bigger issue. But you have to put things into perspective. This is part of the complete misunderstanding about measuring performance.

[open-mind]

From the article: "For too long, he said, Microsoft has been silent. And as a result, the only dialogue has come from competitors, namely Apple. "

I guess I don't really agree with that. Prior to any Apple commercials, there were millions of negative blogs, articles, and review about Vista. The problems with Vista are well documented. Apple did not create this negativity. They merely had the nerve to repeat some of it.

[inachu]

Vista should only be installed on computers that have the best video card and dual channel memory.
Any thing else and you are looking for headaches.
I keep telling people who also buy office 2007 that upgrading their video card will make MS Office open fast and respond fast to their key clicks but they say they do not want something meant for video games.

Uuugh!

[Lerianis]

Bingo! Vista absolutely NEEDS a fast video card.... really, so does XP! That is the first thing I replaced in my parent's computer: the video card. It made a WORLD of difference. XP booted up faster, ran programs faster, etc. When I installed Vista on my parent's machine, it got slow again.... installed a better video card, once again.... BOOM! Fast as **** again.

It's time to stop trying to run Vista and other OS's on crappy integrated graphics chipsets from Intel or anyone else..... it JUST DOESN'T WORK! That is why when my father bought a new computer, I had him buy a 'gaming PC' from Gateway that cost 1.3K and had been rated by CNET as being 'The best machine they had ever had come across their desks at that pricepoint'. It should have cost near 4,000 dollars for everything that was crammed into that bad boy, from what I saw on HP's website and Alienware's website for a comparable computer.

[amayers1]

Why should Vista Office 07 require such hardware, they offer no significant new features from the 10 year old code they are based on, and i fact when you look under the covers ... it IS the same old code?

Linux and OSX boot and run much more reliably and fast on equal or lesser hardware. I Still reluctantly use Windows ( I only have Vista because I won't pay extra to "downgrade" to XP. ) because of 3rd party apps that I use.

At one time IBM did an amazing job at cleaning up Windows spaghetti code and had a fast 32 bit OS called Warp, few will remember it as OS/2. When Windows 95 would not run the old Windows apps, the faster, smaller OS/2 would .. and it supported ALL the old legacy device drivers through a transparent compatibility layer.

MS and Windows succeed because the vast majority of computer users think is it a good product and that it is normal fo their machine to get slower and slower and s l o w e r as time goes on. Windows NT 3.51 was the only stable high performance 32 bit or better OS Microsoft produced ... they have never attained that level of stability since. I for one will feel no sorrow when they and their product line are gone for good.

[Webtiger007]

The ad is LAME almost a complete waste of whatever MS shelled out for it. Pretty embarressing considering how smart and witty the Apple ads are in comparison.
Oh, and Jerry Seinfield? How very '90's.....

[suxx0011]

I try to interpret the ad in this way: Jerry Seinfeld is Mac, Bill represents Microsoft. Mac is more knowledgeable, and Microsoft learned from Mac (see how Bill learned to bend the shoe as Jerry), but in the end, they walked out together, and Jerry asked that cool question (typical Mac), which means Mac not practical? Bill was quite down to earth, and warm -- Microsoft is not evil? Mac found Microsoft, gave the advice, and followed Microsoft out, without getting paid ... Vista is like that pair of shoes, they didn't fit well at the beginning, but if you bend it, work on it, it eventually will fit in just fine ... Ha Ha!

[gagahput3ra]

Wow, that's a pretty good explanation. And very plausible too. One problem though, Seinfeld is clearly not the right person to represent Mac. I mean, his image is from 90's tv serial.

[AWJJensen]

Wow...You just saved me a ton of thinking

[gamer1489]

That....is the most insightful interpretation I've read thus far. It's....it's beautiful! I never saw it like that, but to bring 'Mac' in on a Windows commercial without bashing it is like the Obama campaign in the beginning. He never bashed his opponents, and Microsoft has the decency, thus far, to not bash Mac. I love it!

[Penguinisto]

This sounds like a rather defensive comment from Microsoft. "Oh, it's negative commentary but folks sure are talking about us!"

Err, yeah - folks speak about AIDS in negative terms as well, and you certainly don't see folks rushing out to catch it, do you?

I also agree with open-mind when he (she?) said: "Apple did not create this negativity. They merely had the nerve to repeat some of it." and that there was a whole host of negative media out there for Vista.

Okay - having seen the ad...

Holy crap was that thing lame. No, seriously... the part where they have to dink around with the shoes to get them to fit looks exactly like how a user has to customize and bang on Windows to get the thing to work. So they're off to change the future! Make things more custom! Yeah! ...err, the Mac is already like that now, and Linux is so customizeable, it has five different GUI environments and you don't even need an Intel PC to run it.

So to those in the know, well... okay, so Microsoft promises to play catch-up? Gee, that's nice. About time. Actually glad to see that they got motivated to actually do something for once. That said, why should I bother to buy a Microsoft product right now, or even bother waiting until this nebulous "future" (according to Microsoft) arrives, when I can buy a Mac right now that already does all of that?

Now, back to the commentary: One thing Microsoft can do is to not "talk shop", but to show --in layman's terms-- what compelling reasons there would be in ditching XP for Vista instead of buying a Mac or a Linux machine.

Let's do a parallel example of a successful campaign: Apple is successful in their ads because they portray the pros of Macs (and the cons of Vista) in ways that even a complete tech-illiterate person can understand (e.g. 'PC' is sick = "viruses"; 'Mac' suddenly and easily speaking fluent Japanese with 'digital camera person' = "painless compatibility"; 'PC' is hopelessly fat = "bloated and slow"... things like that).

Microsoft doesn't have to "talk shop", they just have to deliver their allegories in a way that is a hell of a lot more direct, without all the 'deep' and vaporous subtext. I don't mean the vague lifestyle stuff like 'choices', either. I mean meat-and-potatoes stuff - like features and whatever technical advantages that Vista may hold. IOW, why should I buy a Vista machine... now?

/P

[Jkirk3279]

?No, seriously... the part where they have to dink around with the shoes to get them to fit looks exactly like how a user has to customize and bang on Windows to get the thing to work.?

I thought that part was nice, kind of like ?Truth in Advertising?.

[topgunb2]

wow, you seem to have lot of time to write such long replies, hope you are not doing it from work, I feel sorry for your employee :)

[Penguinisto]

Friday was my last day there... I was waiting for the bureaucracy to come and get me (badge turn-in, etc etc).

Monday, I start with a new (and smaller) employer for a very tidy pay raise and a more senior position. The flip side is, I'll be rather busy, so I'll likely not be able to post much, if at all.

[Renegade Knight]

The ad campaign may (or may not) help. They however need to pull their head out of their butt and make products that work. I've had Vista fail me on applications that I specificly paid for it to do. I've had their online verification fail. I've had their DMCA dogs chew my butt and then not talk to me to come to a resolution. Office 2007 isn't working because of a validation problem they have. Money kept corrupting my data (never a problem with Quicken) Sync. works haphazardly. The list goes on. Even if I like the ad, if they don't fix the problems they are just advertising broken products.

[Lerianis]

No, they are not advertising 'broken products'. There is no Office 2007 validation problem on any version of Vista that I know of. There is also no problem with Money 'corrupting data' all on it's lonesome that I can find after searching for a good 20 minutes after seeing your post.
As for Vista 'failing on applications'.... you must have some CRAPPY applications, because I have NEVER, EVER had Vista crash on me in any application that didn't have a problem ITSELF... not because of Vista, but because it just had a problem.
No, you are making stuff up, and yes: I am calling you a liar.

[lostviking]

when is MS going to learn. It's not the ads they spin. MS has always been a great marketing engine. It's the crappy OS they are trying to sell. Vista sucks. Period.

1) Move all the files back to where they belong. 2) Why does Vista use 1.3G of RAM during a specific app I run, but XP only uses 652M??? The app is a bloated pig that is hard to use because AGAIN you changed (for no good reason) the way I do everything. NOTHING under the user layer is dependent on you changing the location of my files, creating BS virtual links...the list is too long and tiresome to repeat all of them.

[Lerianis]

Excuse me, but I call ******** on that second point you have. I have run the same applications on both XP and Vista: they do NOT use different amounts of ram, even for XP Media Center vs. Vista Media Center.
As to 'move all the files back to where they belong': HELLO! There was a very good ******* reason why they did that! To prevent people from getting viruses and to make it so that viruses could not easily penetrate the computer and infect applications themselves, thereby necessitating a lengthy cleanup process.

Vista does not suck in any fashion whatsoever. I call BS that you have NEVER used Vista (which I AM using to type this message) in the first place. If you did..... you would realize that there are very few if ANY real differences between Vista and XP.
Personally, I have tested Vista: faster than XP on nearly EVERYTHING on the same hardware. I don't know what testing programs that the people at CNET and other places are using..... but it must have some ******** things in it that make Vista appear to be slower than XP for no good reason.

[Benf]

Sir, your post regarding Vista is blatently untrue, I suggest that you research a subject before you post, if you do that you wont look so ....umm....uninformed.

[chltmdwp2]

umm this is to lostviking. Vista needs more ram. Think like this. Bigger car engines requires bigger tank fuels and consumes more gases than lower powered engines. This goes same method to Vista. clearly, Vista has more upscale looks and fancy graphic icons and Dx10 that requires more Ram and CPU speed. If you have a crappy computer and just runs xp barely, i do suggest you to upgrade your ram because ram in 21 century is cheaper than ever. Seriously, why can't people be more educated when it comes to electronics?

[lov2laf]

I just bought a Gateway laptop with Vista Home Premium. Guess what? My wife and I are lefties and I am no PC dummy, but I haven't been able yet to switch cursors to lefty so the arrows point the reverse of what they came out of the box with. I dont want to reverse the left right buttons. This is the exact type of stuff that drives me to start to rethink going Mac.

[Lerianis]

Why would you want to do that? Seriously, what is the point of that? I swear.... some of these complaints I have heard are.... BS, but THIS ONE TAKES THE FREAKING CAKE!
So the arrow 'points to the right'..... big deal? Why would you want to change that, left-handed or not? There is a good reason why Microsoft doesn't have something where you can change that: IT ISN'T NECESSARY FOR 99.999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 % of the people out there!

[chamm3r]

Well lov2laf, I guess you will solve your left/right mouse buttons with a Mac since they only have one button!