Ragnaris
Sentinel
skavenhorde I'm sure that if there's a chance for a game to work you would be able to figure it out without much hassle. I'm not certain however if the same is true for the average user of any of today's systems. For example, you say editing the autoexec.bat wasn't a big deal? Well… it wasn't for me either, but I am a geek. Do you expect that the average iOS user would even bother learning his way around DOS?
You've got a good point here, and it echoes what others have been mentioning. It's simple enough (for me, anyway) to open up a file and edit it manually to get something to work, but by today's standards most people don't want to put up with that, because requiring the user to understand and work with the app - rather than just watch - is a another story entirely. They want something that works right off the bat, with a quick and easy setup where they wouldn't have to push more than a couple buttons.
Back then (and even now, 95% of the time), I hardly ever encountered problems. I think every game I played in the 90s on my PC installed (and played) the way it was meant to. Occasionally my PC would have problems handling newer, flashier games (such as lack of RAM), but nothing that I'm not dealing with already.
Apple (specifically Steve Jobs) grabbed the market when he capitalized on most of the population's desire for simplicity.