You would think that with all the bad press Windows gets from whiners
and people who think that Linux is superior, people would be leary of
Microsoft by now.  However, it is #7 on Fortune's list of most trusted
brand names.  This makes it the most trusted software vendor in
America.

I will of course need to provide a definition for "software vendor" in
the context I've used it, since the real definition is up for debate.
For the sake of simplicity I will define a software vendor as a
company who manufactures and distributes software and derives all or
most of its revenue from selling said software.

In other words, Google is #3 but they are not a software vendor in my
eyes, they manufacture web services which result in revenue by
providing a billboard for ad space.

Sony is high on the list too, and they do in fact manufacture and
distribute software (hardware drivers, games, etc) but they are not a
major (relatively speaking) means of revenue for the company.

Funny how you don't see Oracle, Sun, Red Hat, IBM, and other crap
brands up there.

Probably because Java is dying:

http://tinyurl.com/76fc5