Really?

or did Microsoft perhaps pay the author? This is ridiculous.

Oh, I just noticed that Bing is displayed as the search engine here on Slate. That would explain it.

So, if anyone writes something very good about some product, it necessarily means that the makers of such product are paying the author?

Really?

That is what you really think?

You are a child.

When its a big corporation like Microsoft? When it's a business who's getting very nervous about the fact that their products, which were once untouchable, are having a lot of trouble with competitors (i.e. Bing vs Google, Xbox vs PS3/Wii, Windows Desktop vs. OSX, Windows Server vs. Linux) and are crossing their fingers because their last release was a PR nightmare? When its on a site that used to be owned by Microsoft and still has a home on msn.com? When almost all print companies (including Slate's parent company, the Washington Post) are seeing their advertisement revenues drop? Do you really think the author needs to be told to not piss off their advertisers? I'm not necessarily saying this is 100% the case here, but you're the child if you think this stuff doesn't happen in online journalism.

But if MS can pay people off, why does Vista get such a bad rap?