Sounds crazy isn't it? But before criticizing Microsoft, think about the patent system that made this happen in the first place. Unbelievable.
Abstract of the Patent
A user interface and scheme is provided for facilitating shutting down an operating system. Aspects include the operating system receiving a command to initiate shut down, and automatically terminating graphical user interface (GUI) applications that delay shut down which do not have top level windows. Also, aspects provide a user, through a graphical user interface, the ability to automatically terminate all running applications in response to determining that a running GUI application has a top level window.
If you could just browse through the other patents Microsoft holds, you could see more interesting stuff like a patent on "Method for displaying progress during operating system startup and shutdown" among others. Clear pointers towards the need for a complete patent system overhaul.
[via slashdot, conceivablytech]