I can't help feeling that part of the difference is that, per Feynman, Apple builds MIT Cyclotrons while Windows, like Linux, is more like the Princeton Cyclotron.

http://bit.ly/qUZnMP (directs to Google Books)

Personally, I'm kind of fond of Princeton Cyclotrons.

Agreed, really enjoyed your post. Quick heads up that your resume on your site seems to be down?

I think your post is easier to read than Joel's.

Thanks! Joel’s essential point speaks to developers in the ecosystem, who have to keep up with OS upgrades while simultaneously competing with Microsoft. I was making a much simpler point about using the OS, so of course I had an easier task :-)

Interesting that Joel has chosen Microsoft's ASP.NET MVC as the platform for StackOverflow.

I see companies hosting .NET 4 apps on Windows Server 2003 and running .NET 1.1 apps on Windows Server 2008 R2. Don't need to keep up with the upgrade treadmill if you don't want to.