Microsoft gave a few tidbits about Windows 7. It's scheduled to be released in 2009, and it's based largely on the Vista kernel, which they're not modifying. The biggest change is... ready?... multi-touch. Wonderful. Take something that someone else mastered, for an entirely different purpose, and hack it into your OS that only your apps will probably be able to use.

But don't give up hope... there will likely be some new games included.. multi-touch Pinball? Oooh... maybe Mahjongg that you can ONLY play with 2 fingers because that's the way Microsoft has decided it should be, of course - screw "legacy interfaces".

My guess is it'll cost $300 for the entry package, and there'll still be 5+ versions ranging from "stupidly crippled version that's bundled with low-end PCs" to "wickedly overhyped with a techy color-scheme".

/sigh

There's some open speculation on whether Steve Ballmer should be sent packing from Microsoft. I couldn't agree more with the sentiments. What with choosing NOT to listen to their customers on XP end-of-life, overpricing the heck out of a crippled O/S, re-doing the interface on their flagship product (Office) and not allowing people to stick with the familiar U/I, and most recently screwing up royally on the Yahoo deal, I'm surprised he's survived this long.

I hope Ozzie takes over - he's a tech guy, at least.

Hrm... has Microsoft done ANYTHING worthwhile besides provide laughing stock material since Ballmer took over? Google is very good, but their image is certainly elevated in comparison to M$.

*edit: a friend of mine described Microsoft's actions over the last few years as a "Failure Spree". I like it - thanks, Brian!

I've been using Vista since Build 5472, and even after installing SP1, am still sticking with XP for most of my computing. I own, outright, two Ultimate licenses, but only one is installed (Vista 64) and I only boot into it occasionally to keep it patched. I'm evaluating it at work, too, so have experience in it as a gamer and an I.T. worker.

For the standard home user, I see no reason to switch to Vista. None. It's a memory hog that doesn't work well with even slightly old hardware, and even some newer hardware is crippled in Vista (by the vendor or by Vista's internals.. it doesn't really matter). The only thing it brings to the table, as far as I can tell, is eye-candy. Even then, you need a pretty beefy card to get the best of the Aero interface.

Vista 64 does allow you to address more than 3GB of RAM (I have 4GB installed).. but there are very few apps that actually take of it. Also, because Vista itself requires so much more memory than XP, it's actually a wash.

The only thing I've really seen that really benefits from Vista is Tablet computing. Vista does work better with tablets than XP does. But that's a far cry from being a worthwhile O/S for every day use. (update: it turns out that they stole this functionality too. /sigh)

The only good thing I can say about Vista's User Account Control (UAC) is that it can be turned off.

Can it be used? Certainly. It's stable and if you have lots of RAM, a fast PC, and newer hardware, it works fine. But I maintain that XP works as well as Vista does, and is compatible with many more applications and hardware.

I've been playing with a Lenovo X61 Tablet that I got at work, and have to say: it's kind of cool. It certainly take a bit of getting used to, and it's not for everyone, but once you work through some of the quirks, it's pretty nice.

Things I like:

• Portrait-mode! I work in portrait mode all day at work, and highly recommend it for daily tasks such as email, browsing, office apps, etc. The ability to work in portrait on a portable PC is welcome - I just don't understand why people stick to landscape for anything other than games.
• The Pen/Stylus for scrolling. Again, once you get used to this, it's hard to go back to scrolling with the mouse (wheel or otherwise). I really like the ability to just click (anywhere) and drag and have the window respond perfectly.
• Handwriting recognition. This is a software function, and I think Vista is better at it than XP, but they're both pretty good.
• Finger-browsing. Yes, it's possible to use your finger to 'click' and drag. It's very crude, and leaves your LCD all messy, but it's cool in a crunch.
• It's kind of obvious, but sketching with the tablet works well. I'm pretty good at drawing with a mouse, but it's much, much easier with a stylus.