Todd Bishop has published a 2003 e-mail from Bill Gates to some Microsoft developers. It's basically Bill complaining about certain Windows features not working, and others being so convoluted that it's irrational to expect a rational person to go through this hell to get an update or a piece of free software.
Read Bill's entire e-mail here, it's worth it.
The other fascinating thing is that although this mail is dated 2003, things haven't changed one bit. Microsoft's page still makes David Lynch's movies feel like simple, linear stories with a happy ending: it's damn near impossible to find anything there, and if you do find it, its clearly named and placed with the intention of being impossible to find. At least I can't find any other rational explanation.
Because of problems like this one, I've abandoned practically all of Microsoft's programs except Windows itself, using simple freeware alternatives for everything I can. Every time a friend calls me and asks me what the hell is this "validation" thing, I think to myself that perhaps everyone would be better off doing the same.