I guess you haven't used XP then. Not only is the GUI customizable in many ways (full theming of the UI, virtual desktops, etc) but there are also various versions for different tasks. Giving a standard UI to start with is not a bad thing as long as someone can change it from there, and that's what they've done. My XP desktop looks suprisingly like Mac OS X now because I'm mentally ill like that.

Microsoft is to computers what MacDonalds is to food: popular, simple, and immensely profitable, but ultimately unsatisfying and unhealthy. Of course, people who have grown up on it wouldn't know.

I disagree completely. I didn't "grow up" with Windows, or even MS-DOS. I started out with Commodore 64 and Apple II. I eventually did move up to MS-DOS, and eventually Mac and Windows. I've also used many different flavors of Unix and a few of Linux. I still prefer to use XP as my desktop. I used to rant and rave about how bad Microsoft's business tactics are, and how their product sucks. Then when I started using XP, I limited my ranting to being about their business practices only. I really can't fault XP as a desktop OS. I don't think you've used it if you accuse it of having all the problems of the 9x series and NT.