Many people choose Strats because of it's simplicity, it may lack all these cool features other brands have, but people just like the way it sounds... It has a unique "nasty" sound, which is why it's so popular among punk and hard rock bands.
I'm all for Gibsons myself (wish I actually f*cking had one), my favorite guitar has to be the Gibson ES-175.
Steve Howe's weapon of choice, and a beautiful, beautiful tone overall, It's also argubly the best Jazz guitar there is... Of course this is off topic for a thread about shredding, but it would be awesome to hear Steve Vai try out one of these babies.