I code on a Mac, but having spent years on Windows platform, I still believe Microsoft software is actually by far the best quality product coming out of big, traditional software shops: their Office, SQL Server, development tools, all that stuff is nicely written. Windows kernel is also great.
However, my humble anecdotic evidence suggests that most everyday Apple users are Microsoft converts and they do have very strong feelings associated with Microsoft brand, but truth be told, MS has nothing to do with their painful past experiences: crappy 3rd party Windows products pre-infected with adware, performance-killing pre-installed anti-viruses, flimsy and cheap hardware from eMachines and the likes, etc.
That's a good point and is a result of how Microsoft and Apple has positioned and controlled their products. I've had a good experience developing and using Microsoft products. So have my hacker friends. My elderly dad, on the other hand, can't seem to keep his Windows machine running. Over time, it'll become this bloated, slow machine. I got him an Apple and there are fewer problems.
However, my humble anecdotic evidence suggests that most everyday Apple users are Microsoft converts and they do have very strong feelings associated with Microsoft brand, but truth be told, MS has nothing to do with their painful past experiences: crappy 3rd party Windows products pre-infected with adware, performance-killing pre-installed anti-viruses, flimsy and cheap hardware from eMachines and the likes, etc.