Bad news for Microsoft: A Forrester Research survey found that Microsoft came in almost dead last when it comes to what technology brands people trust, while Apple, Bose, and Dell led the pack. What is it about Microsoft that consumers don’t like?

In the telephone survey of 4,700 American adults, Microsoft came in 20th out of 22 companies. And that survey was done before Microsoft announced the latest Vista delay.

A Forrester report about the survey warned, “Microsoft faces big consumer defection risk.” It noted that 5.4 million households “know they run Microsoft software but would be just as happy to leave it behind — if they could.”

Why do so many people distrust Microsoft? Some of it, of course, has to do with its size and dominance. People simply don’t like big monopolies.

But it’s more than that. Every time someone gets an incomprehensible error message, a blue screen or death, or they run across one of the many Windows or Office annoyances, that’s one more strike against Microsoft. In addition, Microsoft’s constant delays in introducing software and fixing problems with existing software adds to the problem.

There’s no easy fix for Microsoft; it may take years to regain people’s trust. But if it pays more attention to security, does a better job of fixing bugs, and offers real help rather than bizarre error messages, that will be a start.

And, of course, releasing an operating system on time that works as promised couldn’t hurt, either.