Dang it, solitude, you posted something I **KNEW** I'd forget!

MS is moving the release of Windows 7 up by as much as a year. Microsoft has been more or less forced to accelerate the release of the next version of Windows, because Vista has been an unqualified failure - certainly in terms of Microsoft sales expectations. For the first time, there have not been droves of people standing in line to upgrade merely because MS said to - and the real telling sign is the lack of widespread corporate adoption of Vista, combined with the outright rebellion of some major retailers such as Dell.

The earliest versions of Windows 7 strongly suggest MS intends to morph the OS into a 'net integrated entity that blurs the distinction beween desktop computer and 'net applicance. They will attempt to create a Windows online world comparable to that which has been created in the gaming community via XBOX Live.

Philosophical rant coming: Microsoft is a middle-aged geek trying to stay relevant in a world that is becoming immersed in non-desktop-oriented devices in which it has little or no influence or relevance. Even in 2008, Microsoft's lifeblood is the revenues from licenses of Office and their operating systems. They've tried to create 'Net relevance with msn search and content-oriented offerings, but have had little success - culminated with the failed effort to buy the presence they could not create for themselves with their attempted takeover of Yahoo. MS really, really thought they could leverage enough clout to convince people Vista was a necesary upgrade, and that's failed, so now Microsoft has been left with no choice but to accelerate the release of its only "ace in the hole" - the operating system - in a world where a monolithic OS is becoming less relevant with each passing day.