I think there is a definite choice, if people want a Mac then they go to an Apple store. I don't really see Windows boxes in Apple store shelves. For Linux, I think if you even know liinux exists you are not the type of person to have an OS installed for you. Even so, Dell offers an Ubuntu line of PCs as well. There is also things like the ASUS Laptops which come with Linux too.
I don't think that has anything to do with what I said. I'm saying that people believe a lot of FUD about Mac/Linux, too, it isn't specific to Windows Vista.
I interpreted your quote "One of the biggest mistakes they've made is forcing people to use Vista" as saying that there are not viable alternatives from Manufacturers. Did you mean just as opposed to using XP?
Last I heard, a couple places (or just Dell?) were still offering XP.
Ah, that's probably true then. I don't really keep up with XP news anymore.
I think the difference between XP->Vista was significant compared to any Apple updates. It wasn't just a few tweaks and charge you a ton of money (Apple's strategy), there was a major overhaul to the look and feel, which scares a lot of people off, especially the grandparent-types who memorize everything by rote, and have the steps written down to perform each action.
I agree and I've seen the confusion first hand, I think though that once I showed them things like Instant Search and the ability to save searches to create a sort of pseudo-virtual-folders they were able to find most of what they needed. The most confusing thing for most seemed to be the fact that Microsoft reorganized some panels simply for the sake of reorganizing them, they offer relatively the same functional use, that's a mistake I think.
Overall though, aside from the small learning curve once people learn about the things in Vista they find it much easier to find files, organize multimedia, and overall have a better end-to-end experience versus XP. I think Microsoft dropped the ball on Vista advertising, it needed to really highlight these features.