Here is the key "approximately 90 million licenses of the operating system shipped into the channel"

How many of those licenses are in use?

Dell and others are still shipping XP and there are many stories of people "downgrading" to XP from Vista. GM could say they shipped 100 million cars, and neglect to say that they sold only 20 million. Same with MS, they've put 90 million into the channel, but how many of them have sold or are in use?

All three choices are less than perfect.

Linux: While it enjoys running lighter on the same hardware that will otherwise seem a slower under Vista (with all the bells and whistles running), it lacks industry support. You can't play Netflix "play now" movies with Linux. Some sites' Flash menus (Gshock.com, for instance) don't work properly under Linux. Over all, it's a contender but remains the poor step-child of the three.

Vista: At almost a year old, it's still being treated like a newcomer. Above and beyond that fact, it remains the next version of "Windows." So, like it or not, this new puppy is gonna be the next OS most of the world will be running in the near future. And it's the OS most web sites and software producers will cater to.

OS X: Just about has everything you need in an OS (seems less prone to problems than either XP or Linux. I can't judge Vista since I don't currently run it). Unfortunately while it does get the support of many commercial software offerings and there is some benefit to everything being made by Apple, there's the disadvantage that everything is made by Apple. My own iMac G5, near the end of it's three-year warranty required enough new parts to practically replace the entire guts of the system. The cost I would have incurred had I not spent the extra money for warranty extension: almost $1,000. Had these been PC repairs, I could have done them myself at a third of the charge.

The future: Believe it or not, is a fully-loaded gaming system which just happens to have a Web browser and a wireless keyboard and mouse. We'll all have HD flat panel video screens in our living room so the displays will be perfectly legible. It will have a hard drive (for some local storage) but the programs it runs will probably be web-based. It will allow downloading movies, games and music and will port all three to portable devices. It will cost far less than a true PC (which will still - and probably always - be in existance to handle real "work"). But this game/computer/media system will be what the home consumer is waiting for.

I'd loved to know how many people actually used Vista. I was reading reviews for a laptop I was thinking of buying and virtually everyone that had all ready bought the laptop was talking about uninstalling Vista and putting XP back on. Something, I must say, I will be doing when I get my new laptop.

Maybe if Microsoft counted the number of machines connecting to its update site we would get a closer account of the number of people actually using Vista.

I like the idea of having a home network of thin clients with specialised functions littered throughout the house instead of a single, do-it-all concept. This network should use the power lines instead of Ethernet or wireless.

You'd have a server for storage, printing and Internet gateway, to which you can add devices in the specific rooms as your needs grow. The server would be installed by a professional like a cable guy, but adding the devices would be a matter of plug and play.

Once you have something like that the OS won't matter much anymore since that just sits on the server, transparent to the user: everything will become an appliance.

Gotta love how the author uses channel SELL IN vs. SELL THROUGH. I guess Apple should just stuff the channel too then heh?

Then the author uses the end of year Vista number to support the story but then uses the November number for the Mac OS in some attempt to show a wider than actual gap perhaps?

Well regardless the fact is for December as a whole, The Mac OS accounted for 7.3%, up significantly from 6.8% during November. At the beginning of 2007, Net Applications pegged Mac OS X's share at 5.7%, putting the one-year growth rate at about 28%.

But there has been a huge post-Christmas surge, Apple was the #1 seller on Amazon for example, that really put the Mac on the market share map. Net Applications in a write-up on its Web site noted that during Dec. 30 and Dec. 31, Mac OS X-powered machines accounted for 8.01% of those monitored online. "This represents a phenomenal increase of 18% from November for the Mac."

Windows still looms large on the operating system landscape during December. But its market share of 91.8% was down from November's 92.4%. Since 2007's start, Windows has lost slightly more than 2% market share, according to Net Applications.

These are the REAL numbers.