Very interesting article, I think in many instances the author is right on point. One problem that I think Microsoft is going to have in the near future is being able to convince the vast majority of its users to continue the upgrade cycle. The requirements of Longhorn that have been talked about so far are extremely high and in most cases it's going to require the user to purchase a new computer that has much more power in terms of hardware. The vast majority of computer users today only use it for work, word processing, email and the Internet. I have talked to many users who feel no need to upgrade their computer as it can currently do everything they need and much more. Most people see the computer as a tool that can perform some simple daily tasks that they require and nothing more. Why are these users going to upgrade to something that is going to require significant amounts of money when they do not want it or require it? Corporations are also going to have large concerns with the upgrade to Longhorn as many have been very hesitant to make the switch to Windows XP or Windows Server 2003. The upgrade cycle, in many cases, is also not going to be needed in organizations as they do not require more powerful computers for the employees to complete the work that is necessary and purchasing them is just going to be an extra expenditure. In order to win this group of customers over and get them to continue the upgrade cycle they are going to have some incredible new features. I admit some of the advancements projected for Windows Longhorn are incredible but by that I mean "is incredible to me and others with a similar deep interest in computers". To the average user these advancements mean virtually nothing. In order to win these users back over to continue the upgrade cycle they will need to have some incredible features that include more than underlying changes in the structure of the OS and flashy GUI enhancements, and so far this is yet to be seen. Furthermore, there have been plenty of issues lately surrounding the current and future APIs and much of the developer community has been looking for other more stable platforms. Really interesting situation but with all that money and such dominance on the desktop I doubt we will be seeing them go anywhere for a long, long time.