. . and outright threats by the company. Microsoft carefully avoids talking to anyone with technical knowledge but only to non-technical "influencers". I'm sure they've spent many millions $US to get the result you are seeing.

The people they talk to haven't the slightest idea that Vista is more likely to cripple their economy than lack of Vista is.

There's an old saying, "When money talks, bullshit walks", but in today's world this needs to be changed to "When money talks, bullshit smells like roses".