Windows Vista will be the last big Windows operating system. Further more, Microsoft is losing its grip on the desktop to business solutions built on SaaS, open source and virtualization. These are the conclusions put forward by analysts from Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs' perspective on Windows Vista is not singular. In fact, the view that Vista is the last client operating system from Microsoft has been perpetuating itself even before the product hit the shelves. In fact, back in 2006, Gartner analysts have also put forward the possibility that Windows Vista would be the last of its kind.

"Vista will be the last major release of Windows in its current form. User demands, Microsoft's business needs and technology changes will move future versions toward a more modular architecture. The trend of bundling even more functionality is set to reverse," stated Brian Gammage, Michael A. Silver and David Mitchell Smith from Gartner.

Microsoft has strongly denied the scenario in which another Windows platform will not be made available following the Windows Vista release. In fact, the company is currently developing both Windows Fiji, the first service pack for Vista and also Widows Seven.

Details on the operating system designed to replace Windows Vista, under the codenames Windows Vienna and Windows Seven are scarce, but Microsoft has not denied that the development process is in place. This however, combined with the fact that Microsoft has applauded in excess of 20 million sold Vista licenses, failed to prevent Goldman Sachs analysts from expressing some rather bleak predictions about Microsoft's future as far as the Windows platform is concerned.

"Microsoft stands at a major juncture in its life cycle. The company's recently launched Vista and Office 2007 products mark the end of multiyear development cycles and should provide strong growth and profits in the next 12-plus months. Normally, this would make us look at the stock as a definitive must-own. At the same time, these launches also potentially mark the end of an era, and changing technology and business models in areas such as Software-as-a-Service, virtualization, and open source seek to diminish Microsoft's stranglehold on the desktop, which in turn significantly depletes the company's cash cow. Vista may be the last big operating system developed by the company," revealed Goldman Sachs.