I'm going to suggest that the 'functional high ground' was relied on a unique combination of marketing, market penetration and era.
Of course, we know Apple always pushed the 'it just works' mantra, but this was when Apple was supporting a small number of devices, and when they had forced everybody to update to new hardware in order to run OSX anyway, so what you had was an OS that worked VERY well for a small number of people on a small number of devices.
Those few (like myself) who claimed that OSX was not any better than windows (my first experience with OSX had me in a reboot loop trying to get Pages or Keynote working), were a minority of the OS users and a tiny percentage of overall computer users.
As OSX has grown in popularity, the 10% who dislike the newest versions has gone from a few tens of thousands (may hundred thousand) to a few million. Some of them very vocal, like Marco.
Lastly, I mentioned the 'era'. When OSX was gaining in popularity, many people were moving from Windows '98 and XP. They had skipped Vista and didn't try Windows 7. Moving to OSX was a massive improvement, as it was a much more modern and cleaner OS. Those same people are now used to the bells and whistles of OSX, and each new upgrade shows minor improvements and a few odd little features that, from what people tell me, come with the recommendation of "turn off the new stuff".
Those who complain about Microsoft OS quality, didn't compare Apple OS quality of a similar era. If you compare OS9 to 98 or XP, I think you'd find that it's a much more even comparison, and Microsoft may even come out on top.
Of course, we know Apple always pushed the 'it just works' mantra, but this was when Apple was supporting a small number of devices, and when they had forced everybody to update to new hardware in order to run OSX anyway, so what you had was an OS that worked VERY well for a small number of people on a small number of devices.
Those few (like myself) who claimed that OSX was not any better than windows (my first experience with OSX had me in a reboot loop trying to get Pages or Keynote working), were a minority of the OS users and a tiny percentage of overall computer users.
As OSX has grown in popularity, the 10% who dislike the newest versions has gone from a few tens of thousands (may hundred thousand) to a few million. Some of them very vocal, like Marco.
Lastly, I mentioned the 'era'. When OSX was gaining in popularity, many people were moving from Windows '98 and XP. They had skipped Vista and didn't try Windows 7. Moving to OSX was a massive improvement, as it was a much more modern and cleaner OS. Those same people are now used to the bells and whistles of OSX, and each new upgrade shows minor improvements and a few odd little features that, from what people tell me, come with the recommendation of "turn off the new stuff".
Those who complain about Microsoft OS quality, didn't compare Apple OS quality of a similar era. If you compare OS9 to 98 or XP, I think you'd find that it's a much more even comparison, and Microsoft may even come out on top.