I agree with you 100%, and more, this is the most talked about topic amongst our technical staff, associates of mine, and customers as well - That is of course, Microsoft's addiction to taking the most simple of tasks and making them as needlessly complex as possible. If you think SQL Server is bad, try working with Team Foundation Server - its supposed to be a simple system for managing code, and yet Microsoft has once again loaded it down with tons of features no one needs, and endlessly complex interfaces for the most simple of activities.

The reason for this? Simple. Its the key difference between intelligence and common sense. Microsoft has thousands of highly intelligent people working for them, but I doubt there are even 10 MS employees with basic common sense. You can see this in just about all their products. Using MS products is like trying to clean your fingernails with a backhoe - a great powerful tool, completely inappropriate for the job at hand.

There is one glimmer of hope though - after the Vista debacle, MS has shown a small inkling of "getting it" with Windows 7. I hope this small inkling becomes a tidal wave trend and that SQL Server, Visual Studio and all of MS product line starts to reflect more common sense design than "intelligence" design where they load down products simply because they can.