Jeratain, I totally agree with you. It's not that it's Microsoft's fault or any other company's fault in most cases (some companies' products are actually crappy...), it's that people don't know what they're doing. When a message pops up to say something, my parents scream for me and ask what's wrong, instead of reading and trying to understand the message, which often is something like "If you wish to procede, press OK"...
I also don't think other companies makes much better software, although most of them are better at something (a niche), like any other product.
I'm sure, however, that it'd be simple to instead of having pre-installed computers, the retailers sell empty computers, and then ask you: Will you buy software separately, or would you like to buy a package deal from us of "pre-install"-cds (like rescue discs)? We have Microsoft (with Windows and Office), we have OS/2, we have a Redhat package (with Redhat Linux and maybe Staroffice?). There are differences, e.g. Microsoft is very popular and easy to use, but costs several hundreds more, and Redhat's deal is a lot cheaper, but might take more effort to understand. All of these include support however, in case you run into problems.
When you come home, you plug in the computer, put in the cd and boot it. Answer 'yes' when they ask if you really want to do this, then wait for installation. After installation is complete, you follow instructions to set up the system, call support if needed and then the computer's ready to use.
Maybe a bit harder for the customer, but it's much fairer and in the long run probably much better for the customers.