"John Williamson" wrote in message ...

And the Windows world is full of stuff that "just works". I like this idea,
it frees me up to actually do stuff rather than fight the computer.

This is generally true. If a device doesn't have a driver, Windows will search
for one (locally or the Web). It usually comes up with the right one (or a
good one).

Driver problems are usually related to the manufacturer's failure to update
them. This gets customers Very Angry at having to abandon a product they like
(qv, the HP see-through scanner) or having to buy a new one.

A good example is the classic Palm T3 (and related PDAs). There /were/ updated
drivers, but no way to install them easily, because simply plugging the
interface cradle into a USB port didn't trigger a search for the correct
driver. The trick was to press the sync button on the cradle, then -- during
the 60 seconds or so Windows was trying to make contact -- have the Hardware
Wizard install the driver.