Using a monopoly in one market to influence competition in another is not illegal. It's only illegal if and only if the consumer is negatively affected. Now, that's something that can be argued about. For instance, if I'm the only one to make a particular product in a niche category, it isn't illegal for me to turn around and use my earnings from that niche to play in a different category. It would be illegal if I used my influence across categories to negatively impact the consumer. Now, as to whether or not Microsoft has done that is very much up for debate with legal opinion siding that Microsoft's control of the software market being negative to the consumer.

As far as the product itself, it is complete. While you may not like the interfaces at your disposal, that doesn't change the fact the tool works. I'll use an analogy...

I go to your local car dealer and I come home with a nice car. The dealer was nice and even topped off the gas for me. However, less than a week later, the car comes to a screeching halt. I go to turn the ignition and the starter tries to fire, but the car isn't turning back on. Frustrated, I call the car dealer. The technician walks me through the problem and then asks me to look at my gas gauge, which is sitting on E. The technician tells me the problem is the car is out of gas. I then scream that the car is incomplete because the dealer didn't include all the gas I'd need for the life time of the car. Moreover, it didn't refill automatically. The technician tells me, "Go get some gas," and hangs up the phone.

And as far as XML files by hand, you'd be surprised. On my system right now I have VS.NET installed but I'm writing ASP.NET pages using TextPad at the moment. Why am I not using VS.NET which is tremendously more powerful? It's a matter of scope. What I'm doing is simple, quick, easy. I don't need the full power of VS.NET and I certainly don't want to deal with the overhead. Now another project I have in a couple of weeks, I won't even consider using TextPad because I will need the VS.NET features. The right tool for the job...