If you haven’t already jumped off the Microsoft Windows/Vista platform, you probably have your reasons. But many IT managers are resisting the move to Vista. Microsoft even tried to guilt-trip the Windows XP-only skeptics by pulling Mojave out of its hat, presenting it as a new operating system, and then revealing it was Vista all along. But the skeptics weren’t buying it. Even Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer casts its two major rivals, Apple and Google, in a somewhat positive light, acknowledging that Microsoft faces an uphill battle with both. I say to Ballmer, good luck with that.

And this is all good news! Competition has returned to the industry. Apple has climbed to third place in U.S. market for personal computers. The inexorable trend toward cloud computing puts Linux in the driver’s seat. Bill Gates is gone, but the issue was never about him; it was about the tactic of locking users into their products while maintaining a monopoly. That monopoly is receding faster than Ballmer’s hairline. With software-as-a-service and innovations like iPhone applications, the nature of software is changing radically and providing far more choices than ever before. I predict that, in just a few years, people will look back on the operating system wars, Windows domination, and the Microsoft monopoly with amusement and nostalgia.

So this blog must come to an end, as the topic no longer carries weight. I haven’t used Microsoft software (except for testing purposes) for several years now, and I’ve collaborated with Microsoft users in many different ways without compromising my integrity or Office compatibility. I’m bullish on Apple, the iPod, and the iPhone, and continue to use Macs in my day-to-day work and Apple consumer devices at home. And I will continue to blog, just not on this topic alone. See my personal blog at tonybove.com to continue this thread. And if you’re interested in rock music history, check out Rockument.

I can go on to better topics now. So long, and thanks for all the fish!