sorry guys, even that I'm of the same opinion as you, i have to agree with Andrei: stick to the topic or create another one!

different times, man..reflect about this simple point:
there were just a few games in the 80's compared to nowadays. just every day we got more of them! do you think you can deliver a driver which can fully support all games without getting any problems? see, that's not possible nowadays. you would need 100 people working around the clock or something like that..

concerning game consoles:
dude, do you know why nearly everbody who wants to play games owns a M$ PC system?? because it's (despite to consoles) a scalable system! since 3dfx introduced the voodoo1 the pc raised to become the gaming console..and that's the fact why I'm still posting here! we've now even more quality w/ faster performance on pc games compared the a crappity smackin' gaystation. that's why we buy computers, isn't it?
the only console really useful is - in my opinion - the nintendo gamecube which can deliver full tv resolution unlike most other consoles.

To counter-point this: consoles are offering acceptable results for their price, want more, state of the art, you pay a hefty price for it. If you have the money, you could receive something that is 10 times better, more reliable than any PC, and offers the greatest quality, but the price is 100 times bigger, and the programes designed for it are 100.000 times more rare, at least.

You have to admit that this "compatibility no matter what, and on everything" gives a nice and steady boost for things that cost on an average 50$ but just adds and adds up to the prices, without receiving what is on papers.

Still not enough? Ok. You buy a 3 Ghz CPU today. Soon you discover that you need 1 Ghz of Ram because games are demanding. You buy a newer soundcard because the on-board one fails to sound correctly and stutters in some games. You then install Directx, tons of pathces, to find out that the game still don't runs. Then you have a feeling, and you try each and every setting on D3d. Yes, you make the game to start. You play the game, but you are going from 100fps downto 30 when lots and lots of things appear. You see the sky but it has some strange "dithering" effect even when you can only run in 32 bit color. Frustration all over the place, as the photos from the game looked way different in that game magazine, and on TV.

So, unless you like the pain of only a part that has been presented above (as in reality you could have way more problems), you either lack the money to buy now something else (hard to find one), or you find yourself in a vicious circle, investing over and over again in newer equipment to escape problems for a while. This has sense if you are using the PC at many more than just games, but a very large share of people use PC for games, then it is rather a constant loss of money.

To the Problems that can ship with PC Games/Software :

Well, technically, there shouldn't be cases where something doesn't run at all.

And nobody today needs a 3GHz CPU or 1GHz *g* (1GB?) of RAM (except a handful of special Applications).

Most Problems (if existing) are caused by the guy sitting in front of the Monitor, due to lack of knowledge or experience.
Sounds harsh, but it's an old wisdom, and still holds true.

The remaining bits and pieces are indeed buggy Code, in which I fully agree.
But considering (as an example) that the Network Code of UT2004 is worth some 5 Million lines of code alone *ugh*, Bugs have been with PC users (and that includes to a lesser extend Mac or Linux/Unix) for quite some time now.

Since nothing man creates is perfect, this is unfortunately normal.

The same is valid for alot of products (even much more expensive ones like cars, for example). If they're new, they always contain some number of bugs or annoyances.
(remember the old saying : never buy a "point Zero" Version )

All one has to do, is to inform himself, before making decisions. Once that (often omitted) most important step is done, things usually run as they should.
Sometimes, that requires nothing more than simply wait a month for the Game to mature with a Patch or two readily supplied.

If what I wrote wasn't true, nobody would be using PC's today
(and those that do, would make frequent sessions with a psychatrist *g*)
------------------------
But one has also to consider, that PC's still remain what they always were :
Cutting edge technology, and by nature of their their complexity never meant to be used by everyone.

Often enough, Companies or people preach different, but if you look into the past, and compare it to today, one thing has never changed :
- as soon as Problems occur, the basic User quickly reaches his limits, despite colorific Multimedia WinXP Help Pages
- at that point, help from other more experienced Users (formerly we'd call them "Admins" ) is needed, in the Past doing their Command Line magic, now using their knowledge of the key Controls of the OS (which often remains invisible to basic Users).

I guess that will never change, it's just that people forgot about it, or were/are in error to believe those times were over.

Anyway, new Hardware or Software isn't evil by nature.
It just takes skill to use it.
In times where every 'Joe Smack' thinks he can assemble and setup a PC on his own, this continues to hold true, that's it 

hehe, by "PC" I was extending beyond what we nowadays normally call "PC".

Long before the IBM compatible (x86) PC was widely accepted, there were numerous other Personal Computers (which at their time were often much cheaper, and more powerful/feasible in specific areas).

Good old times, Commodore VIC-20, C16/C116 and Plus/4 , Sinclair Z80, Schneider CPC series...
...later followed by the successful Commodore C64/128 and eventually AMIGA vs. ATARI ST series (and the rare but innovative Acorn Archimedes).

Those were only few of the past "Personal Computers", the list of the historical PC's is actually gigantic.
----------
What I meant in my previous Text :

The first PC's were in the hands of people who actually knew what they were doing (or adopting/learning quick).
Same applied to the earlier Systems (although for some it was sufficient if they were able to load & execute their Games )

Today we have heaps more powerful and complex machines, not rarely in the hands of complete Tech n00bs (which in itself isn't bad, but some refuse to invest the time needed to understand the technology; they just want to use it, which ultimately leads to problems)

sure, Falcon, i was thinking of the AT system...
i still own a commodore64 and masses of games for it..this thing rocks  8)

They're not gonna ban you, lol...patience was just makng a remark about the picture...