As long as there are people with different opinions, there will be different answers to your questions. We will split up to different "religions" again, since

As long as there are people with different opinions, there will be different answers to your questions. We will split up to different "religions" again, since we cannot agree even on whether command lines are a good thing, or on what amount of freedom is a good tradeoff versus security. There simply are too many variables: Power users want freedom, corporations want security, productivity, and low cost (and not even all the coprporations want that)... Too many players, too many egos. Right now the Mac zealot's ego prevents him from seeing anything good in a PC, and vice versa. If we started all over, people will, within a short amount of time, identify with a particular solution, and then we will have religions all over again. I'm not saying it's hopeless, but what I am saying is that the problem's root is people, human behavior; not necessarily technology. The technological mistakes (which itself is subjective), were kept alive mainly by egos, easily justified with the cost of undoing the mistake. And don't forget every mistake is a steppingstone for a later success. IBM's OS2 was a financial mistake, but which O/S has not borrowed from it? So I gues we might have the same kinds of problems if we start over again, with the names of the companies and people involved shuffled around. Maybe it's just better to keep going and try to do our best.