The Last Windows OS?

Sometimes the game is over even though somebody on the losing team is still running like mad toward home plate. SCO, for example, has released a version 6 of its Unix OS, but they haven't sold many upgrades. For the vast majority of SCO users, their "five dot" releases are effectively the "last" SCO OS. When RedHat stopped "free" versions at RH9, that release effectively became the last RedHat Linux that many users care about (though RedHat has had a lot more success with its paid versions than SCO has with SCO 6). XP may be Microsoft's last OS. Oh, yeah, I know: Vista. Yes, of course they'll release that. And they'll sell more of it than SCO or RedHat will sell their new products. That's a given. But there are obstacles to Vista being a big success. For one thing, it's confusing: there are five versions planned and the differentiation isn't all that clear. Secondly, it will require faster hardware. That need comes at a time when budgets are being squeezed; yes, PC's are getting cheaper, but if you have something that works (XP), why upgrade your hardware just to get Vista? A lot of companies and individuals will let that opportunity pass. Windows Vista is also going to be more annoying. Unless Microsoft changes their present security model, Vista is going to be *very* annoying (from APLawrence.com Add to document.write("Del.icio.us") | Yahoo! My Web A.P. Lawrence provides SCO Unix and Linux consulting services http://www.pcunix.com