The VAR Guy

Microsoft will officially launch Windows Vista and Office 2007 November 30 in New York.

InformationWeek is telling readers there are 100 Things You Must Know About Microsoft’s Most Important Product Launch Ever. That’s quite a stretch.

Is Vista a step forward for Windows? By most accounts, yes. There’s a place in the world for Vista. The Windows XP code base is cluttered with megabytes of patches and bug fixes. By mid-2007, many businesses will surely embrace fresh, newly minted PCs with Windows Vista preinstalled. Everybody in the Windows world seemingly wants a fresh start.

But the bigger story is what’s happening in the PC market right now. Shipments of U.S.-made PCs and related equipment plunged nearly 25% in October to the lowest level in at least 14 years, suggesting that the wait for Vista has undermined hardware sales for Dell, Hewlett-Packard and others, according to MarketWatch.

The big winner in all this? Apple Computer. While the Windows world waits for Vista, some users apparently are making the move to Macintoshes. Indeed, Mac sales remain at record levels and Wall Street is more bullish than ever on Apple.

That’s not to suggest that The VAR Guy doesn’t have room in his heart–or his budget–for Microsoft. On December 25, he expects to unwrap an Xbox 360.