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Ask him to buy you a new Mac and show him how it's done, straight out of the box.   Tell him to bring a stopwatch.

The story .... I'm still gasping ...

A person who will make retarded excuses like that is one who is completely unwilling to change.  If anything, you should refer him to the sheer assloads of virus problems that showed up this summer.

A co-worker of mine got a virus 2 days after getting his computer!  Plugging in a little infected USB flash drive was all it took.

People who are too stubborn to give macs a chance, don't deserve a mac.

I can understand and respect you wanting to talk the guy into buying a Mac but you didn't have to resort to outright bullsmurf to do it.

"Do you know that in order to use Windows XP you have to give Microsoft the right to look on your computer via the internet, to see what's on your computer and to make changes to your computer any time they want to?  They don't even have to tell you that they are doing it?  They can do it any time they want.  If you try to stop them from doing it, your computer will just quit working!"

MS cannot shut down your computer remotely. They cannot auto-update your system without your permission. Windows XP isn't programmed to do that. The section of the EULA you are talking about is a legal "ass covering" for MS in the event that a user running "Auto Update" has a problem and tries to hold MS liable for it. They are basically saying "You agreed to let us update your software". Whether there are issues with that in and of itself is open for debate but MS cannot just randomly decide to screw with your installed copy of XP. They don't scour your documents folder or anything like that. It just dosen't work like that. You have to turn Auto-update on and even when its on all you get are critical updates automatically. If you opt out of it then MS has no way of knowing what you have on your system and there is nothing they can technically do to change that.

He acted like I was lying or something. 

You were.

-=Jax=-

How can people be so stinking incalcitrant?
Windows XP is such a galactically bad thing, yet people are sucking it up like a baby on the teat!  It's actually mind-numbing!

Bosses suck!

Yes, that sucks. It can sometimes be a long road to conversion, but don't be too belligerent and approach it as someone who has his best interest at heart, and not someone with a personal agenda for wanting him to switch.

BTW, I think you mean "recalcitrant."

My new Epson scanner came yesterday

When I opened the box, laying on top was a sheet of paper that said,
"WARNING! Windows XP Users!...." and it went on to say that they should install a particular patch before installing any drivers or software in the box.
Apparently this was very important to them, because there was a second warning in the baggie with the software and instructions. Noteworthy to me, but probably business as usual to PC Users.

The first question I ask myself before recommending a Mac to anyone is "Would I like this person being part of the Mac community?"  In this person's case, I'm sure my answer would have been no, so I would just nod my head and walk away whenever they make such uninformed and stupid PC vs. Mac remarks.

I can understand and respect you wanting to talk the guy into buying a Mac but you didn't have to resort to outright bullsmurf to do it.

I see your point.  I was probably dramatizing the situation more than was called for.  Still, whether it's CYA on Microsoft's part or not, you give them permission to do it.  The End User's License Agreement (EULA) refers to a Purchaser's Use Rights (PUR) document which can be changed at any time.

I also understand that, in practice, Microsoft doesn't "analyze" your computer to see what's on it.  Nor do they actively "shut down" your computer.  You do have the right to deny the updates but, according to the agreement, they don't have to tell you what they are doing.  If you continue to deny those updates you will lose the ability to view certain kinds of content or access certain features on your computer.  This is not the same thing Apple does when they say, "iTunes 4.x is required to use the Music Store.", or, "OS 10.x is required to run this program".   It's also different than Apple's provision of "Media Keys" (in QuickTime) which may require some sort of "password" to view, save or modify a QT movie, for example.

I may be guilty of oversimplifying and overdramatizing the problem but it is STILL a problem.  The article I linked to describes it much better than I can.

Ask him to buy you a new Mac and show him how it's done, straight out of the box. Tell him to bring a stopwatch.

Y'Know... When I bought my first iMac (iMac DV/400) I did just that! 
I started with the iMac in its sealed box.  My brother started the stopwatch the moment I cut the tape on the box and paused it when the computer went, "Bong!"  It took a little under 8 minutes, including hooking up the printer and external floppy drive.  He restarted the watch again when I clicked the "Do you want to sign up for an internet account?" button and continued counting until the first web page loaded.  (It was www.apple.com.)  That took another 12 minutes.  The watch was paused for, maybe 10 minutes while we celebrated with "high fives" and cheers of, "Dude!  I got an iMac!"  If you count the entire time of the experience, including celebration time, it was less than 30 minutes from slicing the tape to surfing the web!  If you took the boss's situation where the internet is already up and running I guarantee that it will take 10-15 minutes from start to finish. 

I'm not really THAT rabid about the Mac/PC thing all the time.  It's just this particular circumstance where I made a suggestion, albeit a strong one, and the other person didn't even consider it.  I even told him to simply check out Apple's website, Apple.com/Education, and he flatly refused.

What really amazes me is how "stuck" most people are in their thinking.  It goes beyond the old "Footbal Team" analogy where people will debate the merrits of one team over another.  Both parties implicitly realize that they are simply being loyal to their Home Team.  If I was convinced that he was being loyal to what he knows I wouldn't be so bugged about it.

No!  This is more along the lines of, "Eat Soylent Green!"

Or Win 95. could you do that still? You cant can you?

have him buy his cheap little PC...don't waste anymore time on him

if it works it works, if it doesn't? oh well...

I agree.  And while you're at it, recommend he request the computer come with Windows ME. 

NO! Windows 98 First Edition! And "forget" to install the USB drivers....

Btw, there is really no reason as to why 95 wouldn't run on a P4, as long as you have Windows 95 compatible versions of the drivers for the devices inside the computer (video chip, sound chip, NIC, motherboard, etc). Ever seen an 800 Mhz PIII run Windows 3.1?