Let me start this article by saying that I think Windows Vista is the most important version of Microsoft Windows since 1995. If Windows 95 had been a disaster for Microsoft, we might all be running some flavor of IBM's OS/2 today. Most people take for granted that if you run a PC, you run Microsoft Windows. But as Windows XP nears its 5th birthday, such assumptions start to be called into question.
Apple's "BootCamp" enables users of Intel-based Macs to boot between Windows XP (or Vista) and MacOS X. Look carefully at Apple's ads and you will find that they are promoting the hardware quality even more so than the OS. Who they are targeting is clear -- performance minded PC users who might buy that PowerBook to put Windows XP on. Some percentage of those Windows users are likely to end up as Mac users.
The next version of MacOS X "Leopard" is scheduled to essentially come out at the same time as Windows Vista (roughly beginning of next year for general availability). Two brand new operating systems (as far as the public is concerned) running on the same kind of hardware. It will be impossible to ignore the comparisons.
However, where Leopard will be the 5th revision of a very modern OS architecture, Windows Vista will be a brand new OS designed to look like previous versions of Windows. Windows Vista is a major change from Windows XP. It is not as much of a departure as MacOS X was from OS9, but it is a much bigger change than Windows XP was from say Windows 2000.
This means the level of polish in Windows Vista is going to be crucial. The slogan for Windows Vista is "Clear, Confident, Connected". And I must say, Windows Vista has the pieces to make that slogan true. The question is whether Microsoft can deliver those pieces with the polish, integrity, and reliability that users expect.
