I know Robin - met him at the MSN Search Champs kickoff event in Redmond last October. He's a lovely man - full of passion, enthusiasm, and manic Italian energy. Since meeting him, his blog MasterNewMedia has been a staple in my aggregator.

He's had a horrific experience trying to set up a new laptop with Windows and Office and he swears he will never buy an operating system from Microsoft again.

So, he (the computer technician building out his machine) had decided to proceed in installing what I had considered a dreadful OS (Windows XP SP2), one that more than any other one could have paved the way for further intrusions into customer privacy and locking users further into whatever DRM-connected plans Microsoft is laying out for its next OS.

I understand that these are in the eyes of many only paranoid speculations, but my role here is not the one of the passive consumer echoing whatever the big media and Bill have been telling you. My role is exactly the opposite one: one of an skeptical explorer, investigator and commissioner asking unpopular questions.

In any case you can't deny the fact, that starting April 12th 2005 you will be all locked into Microsoft SP2-to-Longhorn strategy with absolutely no bridge behind you.

It's a long post, describing a harrowing experience. It raises some serious questions. It's pretty upsetting. It's a worthy read.