There will be nine variants of Vista,with slightly (not much) different features (maybe I'm talking security here),will the crackers out there implement nine different ways to hack-in.Will there be nine slightly different products of anti-virus,spyware,et el,to combat that threat.Thus at a masterstroke,and thanks to the EU's medieval policy of "doing an index finger" salute to William Gates,and co,over Windows Media Player,the long suffering network/work/home client(s)will all be shafted yet again to fork out top dollar/pound/yen to furnish the boardrooms of beavering stores,eager to cash-in on the confusion.I can't wait... :(

Update: According to the BBC,there will be only six versions of Vista,and not nine as I stated.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4754462.stm

I've downloaded the Ubuntu Live CD to start playing with Linux on the desktop. This runs the OS and some apps entirely from the CD. Vista most likely will not be my next OS.

I know it's fashionable to crap on Microsoft, but they really have done some good things to this industry. I would agree however that they have really screwed the pooch in other areas of the industry - like security!

I don't think the average office user is ready for Linux.

There are a lot of small businesses that cannot afford a full time "tech support" person - or to keep an "on-call" tech coming in - they have to do everything themselves. Windows lets them leverage technology with minimal down time and training.

In a larger enterprise operation, maybe you can switch to Linux. You are still looking at a lot of training for both tech support and end users. If end users can't be productive, the business looses money, so they can't be unproductive for too long.

Good call Phil.It's a shame that Torvalds and Gates could not have gone "head to head" from the early days.It could have made things more interesting.
As far as office-based Linux is concerned,as you say,the average user is not ready for it.As Windows comes pre-installed,in a lot of cases,and has been mainstream for years,the public at large will always opt for the easy option.If Linux was taught at secondary schools as a compulsory subject,then perhaps we would/could have a level playing field.At work,we are all XP Pro,and mention Linux,everyone shudders,and imagines PC meltdown.I suggested a trial run on one separate machine,to my boss,and she just said no.Linux,in her words,is the preserve of computer geeks,and small graduate debating rooms.Thus lies the problem.Lack of understanding.

Hi, Nez,
You brought up some very good points... with which most of us totally agree!
I can forsee, as you, so many security patches coming down, it will be like Win98 all over again. And, Yes, I am sure there will be those who break all the security areas, and hack them at one time or another.
You know what? I'll bet that before it's over, they will find many more than just those 9 areas, and the security patches go on and on.

Here is an excellent overview of all the different Vista versions.
Certainly looks interesting.
To answer the "will hackers need nine different ways to get in", very doubtful as all these additions will be running Internet Explorer in some form.
Hmmmm can you say front door access ;)

We'll just have to see what happens.