You can always find a reason to defend any feature. In the case of this article you could say it's more seamless to open Outlook links in their browser. And that's exactly what Microsoft's PR says.
But for some reason Apple's fans are way more insistent in defending everything and sticking to the PR department's arguments. No criticism is allowed to stand.
I find that more often than not, the anti-fans are more strident these days than the fans are. What I like is that there are some knowledgeable fans here on HN that don't just retort with "nuh-uh!" whenever a critic levels some sort of unfounded conspiracy theory at Apple, but actually explain what is going on. They provide context, documentation, and important details that seem to get lost when the only discussion is emotional.
HN isn't perfect, but it's so much better than a lot of other online discussion forums these days.
But for some reason Apple's fans are way more insistent in defending everything and sticking to the PR department's arguments. No criticism is allowed to stand.