They ARE a giant money-making conglomerate. All companies are (or wish to be). Sony is, Nintendo is, Microsoft is no different. They're in it to make money. You think Bill Gates started Microsoft up out of the goodness of his own heart and to make kiddies smile? He did it to amass a fortune, and he did.
As for the products that Microsoft release - they work. Windows works. Is it the safest system? Surely not. Is it the most affordable? Given that we can download a number of Linux OSs, again, no. Does it have the most features, and is it the most efficient OS? No. But it works reasonably well.
The Xbox 360 is a fine machine. It's different from the PS3, but there's nothing really wrong with it. Personally, I like the 360 controller better than the PS3 controller, since the PS3's shoulder buttons are all squishy and I don't like how they feel. But the PS3 has Blu-Ray and runs quieter.
Microsoft Office, and the rest of its software are all okay. As a company, they do make innovations and they are deeply involved in network development.
As for their BUSINESS practices, on the other hand, Microsoft have been somewhat unethical. Hey, all companies do unethical stuff, but Microsoft is no exception. Numerous courts have found that they have breached anti-competition laws. In the past, they used their wealth and power to crush competitors - much like how Wal-Mart can destroy a small grocery store, Microsoft could absolutely destroy a smaller company, and they frequently did.
Then again, I wouldn't say Bill Gates was "evil". Anti-competitive, sure, but all Business folks are. Sony have driven out their fair share of competitors and they too release inefficient products. In Japan, there's an Urban Legend of the "Sony Timer", supposedly built into every Sony product to make it malfunction when the next line of products comes out (the rumour was started because Sony products are, by Japanese standards, prone to failure and malfunction).
I don't love Microsoft. How could I? It's a giant company that's in the software business. I simply don't understand why so many people want to defend Microsoft of Sony or Nintendo or Apple or any other software/hardware company.
Let me ask you this: Do you "Love" or "Hate" Bosch, the washing-machine manufacturer? Do you get into passionate arguments over which is better: A Westinghouse fridge or a LG Fridge? Do you spark massive flame wars over what type of fax machine you buy? No? Then why do so over a video game console?
Your video game console is a consumer electronics item. It's a lump of moulded plastic with some circuits and a hard-drive in it. You are not your PS3, or your Xbox. Which console you buy means utterly NOTHING. To ANYONE. You can't infer someone's personality or intelligence based on which console they buy - but you CAN infer something about someone's mental state if they take to "teh internets" to defend a giant corporation that doesn't give one fig about you. You know it's true - neither Sony or Microsoft or Nintendo or Apple or HP or Honeywell or GE or LG or Dell or Lenovo care about you. They don't. Have you spent anytime around a business person? I have - I've met business people, and for all their corporate propaganda about "caring for the customer", the truth is they don't. They don't even see you as people - they see their customers as a bunch of numbers and walking wallets. That's the cold hard truth.
Why you would want to pretend they are your friend is beyond me. I don't hate Microsoft, but neither can I like Microsoft. It's as if I said "Do you hate clouds? Do you hate the Sun? Do you hate Rubidium?" How can I hate those things, or like them very much for that matter?
