Microsoft
Okay, I just got a laptop. I think I already posted this. It’s a very nice Compaq, small, lite, with a great 14.1″ screen and a good keyboard and Windows XP.
I’m now going to say the impossible: I actually like Microsoft. No, I’m not going to rave about how cool the Paxil-like clouds and green grass are on my desktop (though I do find them strangely comforting). Nor am I going to rant about how Microsoft has done just such a bad PR job in the past with regard to its software and browsers development.
Rather, I have a few (very real, but not serious) MS hardware and software issues — with the USB Intellipoint mouse and Word 2000 running on XP — and in both cases, after much hemming and hawing about whether to call their customer support, I did, AND, they were excellent, helpful, and not overly prying. They didn’t ask for social security number, didn’t want my cat’s left ear, didn’t ask to prove that I was an owner of the software. Impressive. And all this time I thought they were evil. Who knew?
Here’s a link to a cooler part of Microsoft — the TerraServer, which provides an interactive map of, like, the whole world. Let’s call it a reward.