There was this antitrust case where Microsoft tried to illegally take ownership of the entire desktop computing ecosystem. It would have probably done more harm than any one rootkit. You may have heard of it.

Also, Sony-BMG is not the same company as Sony Computer Entertainment, and indeed no longer exists.

Blatantly lying about the Skype backdoor?

Does it matter than much though? They are both awful in the context we are discussing. I'll likely not buy either, although that Tom Clancy 3rd person shooter MMO looks like a lot of fun and is console only.

The Steambox is an interesting alternative, it's scheduled for this year (insert valve release date joke here).

to echo another sibling response: yes, the steam box just keeps looking better. They might be enabling game sharing soon too[1]

[1] www.theverge.com/2013/6/19/4445844/valve-steam-game-sharing

I'm not sure if you've heard about this, but I heard that Microsoft created a near-ubiquitous OS that was so insecure that it allowed rootkits to be installed via music CD!

Has Microsoft ever given the possibility to install Linux on the XBox 360?

Not entirely on the same page, but the RRoD bricked two of my 360s. One was in warranty, they sent me a new one. It RRoRed a little while later, but I was out of warranty now, so no replacement for me. I bought a new one, then that one RRoRed after about 3.5 years. I'll never purchase another Microsoft product just because I don't have faith in their ability to create a hardware product after that debacle. Such a waste.

My NES, Playstation, PS2, N64, etc. all still work. 360s die within three years of purchase.

With that logic Sony never should have allowed (like the Xbox) a second OS on the PS3, so people wouldn't bitch about the removal.