I've just bought a new computer ... it doesn't work

I came across Ed Bott's column reading an article about how his Steveness is going to rule the world by selling Mac OSX and Windows side-by-side.

And then I stumbled upon his article about how his brand-new (OK, to be fair, refurbed) computer broke shortly after installation. As part of a BIOS update. I don't know about you but I wouldn't care whose fault it was ... if I had shelled out several hundred dollars on a new piece of kit I would expect it to work - not break within 24 hours.