I've come to realise over the course of the Whirlpool thread that there are quite a few people who are happy to accept crap quality on their new $700 mobile phone. I'm not one of them. There are some things I'm happy to compromise on, but this is not one of them. Also, check the hi-res images. If you really think that's ok then you might need your eyes checked. ;)

Also check out our SP2013 webinar which we opened for registrations today: http://www.alexmanchester.com/alexmanchester/2013/01/webinar-sharepoint-2013-for-intranets-and-the-digital-workplace.html

Good post Ronan. In retrospect, SP2010 out of the box was an absolutely epic let down. From the conversations I've had, people are subsequently very wary of getting excited about 2013. General chat does seem positive so far though and mobile wise it's a step forward. The access/enablement isn't just a SharePoint issue, it's an enterprise IT issue that very few seem to have tackled successfully. One point in your article - I would pretty much discount the short-sighted and somewhat arrogant statement by Microsoft 'not to brand or customise'. I don't think many big orgs will heed that point - it' not that nice looking!