Make was made for *nix, it's not exactly surprising that it doesn't conform with Windows's preferences :-) I certainly wouldn't call that show-stopping.

Oh and there are some file systems that don't allow spaces by the way, though admittedly not in common usage.

I understand you are making a point, one which I largely agree with, but:

there isn't a single other computer program in the world which has a problem with it

is a bit too much hyperbole -- there is some really really bad software out there.

That's a fair point. Strawberry Perl, I'm looking at you.

I stand by the rest of what I said, though. If a piece of software can't handle spaces in paths, the software is broken. I'm not adding a top-level directory to my C: drive just to appease it. I'll use something else.