Let’s end the first week of WCIA play by throwing these two longtime rivals into a locked shipping container until only one of them comes out alive.

In addition to all the regular reasons people give for disliking Apple — the iPhone/iPad’s proprietary cables, those devices’ closed-off, un-upgradable systems, charging too much for a few extra GBs of memory, its App Store being the sole market for apps — some readers took issue with the company’s spat with Google that resulted in popular apps being removed and replaced with inferior offerings; the seemingly endless legal issues involving Samsung… and Amazon, not to mention Apple’s alleged part in the e-book price-fixing scheme — allegations that everyone involved except for Apple has settled.

You could probably make a good argument that Microsoft is no longer Apple’s arch-nemesis, as the Mac vs. Windows argument seems to have shifted to iOS vs. Android, with a few Microsoft stalwarts standing off to the side trying to make the case that Windows-based phones and tablets are viable competitors.

And it’s that faded glory that was most frequently cited by Consumerist readers who nominated Microsoft. They are angry that the company seems over-focused on trying to crack a mobile market already dominated by two better operating systems. The launch of Windows 8 was supposed to be a game-changer, as was the release of the Surface tablet, but the operating system has been begrudgingly accepted by computer users while the Surface has been largely ignored in favor of the iPad, the Kindle Fire, and the Samsung’s Galaxy tabs, probably because half the device’s memory is used up by the operating system.

Meanwhile, the company is being hit with huge fines by the EU for shoving Internet Explorer down customers’ throats, getting rid of the once wildly popular Hotmail e-mail addresses, and though it pays big name celebrities like Gwen Stefani, Jessica Alba and Oprah to shill for its products, they use their iPads to do so.

It’s time to hit ctrl-alt-delete and vote!

VOTING FOR THIS POLL IS NOW CLOSED. CONGRATULATIONS TO APPLE FOR ADVANCING TO THE NEXT ROUND!

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2013 series. The companies competing for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. See the entire WCIA 2013 bracket HERE.

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