Through its recent "Laptop Hunters" ads, Microsoft has done a good job making the case that Windows PCs are less expensive than comparable Apple Macs. But even if PC buyers end up with more money in their pockets, they often turn out to be less satisfied with the overall experience than Mac users do, according to a Forrester Research report released today.

The new report adds more detail to Forrester's 2008 Customer Experience Index, released late last year. Among computer makers, Apple was in the top position, with a "good" rating of 80 percent, according to a post today by Forrester analyst Bruce Temkin. Compaq, HP and Gateway scored between 63 percent and 66 percent, while Dell came in at the bottom, with a 58 percent ranking.

Dell "was rated well below the other firms in the areas of being easy to work with and being enjoyable," Temkin writes.

The report is based on questions posed to 4,500 U.S. consumers about their interactions with the companies.

Of course, Windows is the common thread among those PC makers, and it's obviously contributing to the overall experience, but how much of the blame should Microsoft get for the results? That question illustrates one of the challenges inherent to Microsoft's core strategy of supplying software for a variety of hardware makers: It's ultimately not in full control of the customer experience.

That strategy of focusing on software has been key to Microsoft's success in the market, and leads to a much wider diversity of Windows PCs. It also means that Microsoft is relying on partners to deliver the final product in many cases.

Microsoft has been making a big effort to work more closely with PC manufacturers in recent years, and the results of that closer collaboration have been evident in newer machines. But in comparison, Apple handles everything from software and hardware to, in many cases, the actual sale of the computer and any follow-up service.

However, the New York Times Bits blog quotes Forrester's Temkin calling the results a "wake-up call for Microsoft," saying that consumer impressions of the Windows "ecosystem" played a major role in the negative ratings for PC makers.

Temkin reiterates that sentiment in his own post. "The Windows ecosystem," he concludes, "needs an extreme customer experience makeover."