Windows XP

Myself I prefer winXP since it feels less bloated and complicated to Vista so I think it is bad.

But yea, time will tell. That Midori OS sounds interesting though.

Microsoft have decided that DirectX 10 will only be supported in Vista and not XP. Games that require DirectX 10 will therefore only be playable on Vista.

This also seems to work the other way round, in that Vista requires a monster gaming rig to make it run acceptably.

How long before it's Microsoft (i.e. Vista or its successors) for games, and Linux for business? With MS making most if its money from Office, I wouldn't think that's the way they want to go.

(Of course it's Apple for graphic designers and similar posers who prefer style over capability - no chnage expected there in future).

From a business perspective they should of stop selling Windows XP a long time ago.
Now dont get me wrong, i love XP and dont care for Vista, but the longer M$ kept selling XP, the less likely people would buy Vista. Now with Vista as the only Windows available, it can start reeping the sales, course most people who got Vista got it with a new computer. seeing as how Vista costs so darn much, its almost cheaper to buy a new computer, why microsoft didnt have vista updates for 99 bucks like xp did is beyond me, i think Microsofts biggest problem with vista now is cause it comes in like 7 flavors and they are shortchanging people on the features, if ya want the one with the most features it costs 500 or more, go figure, i would rather spend 500 on a new computer that can do more things, than an os that does only a few new things, i mean wouldnt ya rather spend 500 on a used car than 500 on a rebuilt engine? come on microsoft give the people some cheaper oses, no wonder people are switching to linux, same goes for Office, people are turning away from the over priced suite and using open office, why cause it does the same stuff for free, microsoft needs to learn from that example, to remain selling stuff they need to match the competition, and lower their prices.

...just expected. We knew it had to happen, and thinking ahead M$ had to retire XP at least a couple years before their next generation OS is released, or they'll be stuck supporting (with patches...) three versions at the same time. Personally, I think Vista is an unstable bloated resource hog, but I remember everyone saying / thinking the same thing about XP when it came out too... With increased focus on Vista (now that XP has been semi-retired) hopefully some final patches to fix the remaining issues will be forthcoming.

I agree with Solly, Midori (and MinWin) sound interesting. Design from scratch, not by adding bandaided upgrades on an OS that was a bandaided upgrade to an OS that was a bandaided upgrade...

Unless M$ completely rethinks the restructure of their OS (as seems to be the case), a move by big business to Linux is just a matter of time. M$ can't compete with a free full-featured OS for ever.

I'll slightly disagree with DE on one point... more options for the customer is a GOOD thing. Sure, the pricing doesn't make sense from the consumer side, but the idea of choosing the features you want for a lower price is better than only one "all inclusive" version for one (high) price. I think the best idea going forward would be to have M$ sell it's basic (stripped-down) OS for a lower price, and offer plug-ins (Browser, DirectX, multimedia, resource sharing, firewall, Terminal Services...) for a few extra $'s each. They obviously want to milk more $'s from those with deeper pockets (businesses), so charge more for the options that are mainly used professionally. This could open the door to non-M$ plug-ins too (good for us, bad for M$). Choose the one firewall you want, without having to disable one you were forced to paid for (the one built-in to Windows). Choose PCAnywhere vs. Terminal Services... Firefox vs. I.E..