Microsoft's portable system out this year?

I didn't see a difference in MS products until after 2000. (Win2k was being developed prior to 2000). After the antitrust and with all the competition they have (now)... it's apparent that they're "trying" to get their ducks in order. For some it's too little too late, but for others it's a welcomed feat. Right now you can tell that they're trying to be all things to everyone and with the constant shifting of personnel (move vp here, relocated staff here, cut staff here, add personell here)they are trying to realign the company to be more efficient. Business majors will read about this in their text books in the next 20 years.. .how a company matures and branches out while trying to remain competive. With that said, anyone that looks past the tree, forest and world can see some progress in MS as far as a 'better' company after 2000. XP is a better operating system than any of the pure-dos based crap they kept shoving down our throats. WinME pushed me over my boiling point. Win2k was better, but still being developed prior to 2000... winxp was a good attempt and have to believe that Vista will be the best OS that Microsoft is putting out for desktops. (note: not saying better than linux or macosx). So putting stuff in context (which very few can actual do), you can quickly factor in econimics of scale, market share and integrated services to realize that MS has their work cut out for them. Armchair programmers and business leaders that spout out of their mouths don't keep in mind that Apple doesn't have multitudes of departments wanting to make sure their piece integrates seemlessly with the other. Firefox (Opera is my favorite) doesn't have to answer to a multitude of departments etc. Plus, none of those companies are 60,000+ employees all trying to work seemlessly with each other. It would take a lot to make that work like a well oiled machine... hence the constanct shifting.

As far as the xbox, some say it's a failure and some said it was some success... I agree with that later. (post 2000.. aka.. gentler and nicer ms). I think the community based Xbox Live Service is a brilliant innovation regarding console gaming.

I think mirra and freestyle were interesting concepts, but too early to introduce. The oragmi is interesting , but not practical... So now MS has to pick up the slack because of their partners lack of success in portable media hardware and such. Can they do it... who knows, but at least their giving it a try and I'd rather they compete with my iPod post 2000 rather than who they were pre 2000... I think we'll only see better innovations all around.

Well, I'm using a blue 500Mhz iMac with 512 Ram (which I bought for $200) to type this right now with Safari, iTunes, quicksilver, and Adium open. This computer is like this all of the time, and when not in use, it's put to sleep. It's running OS X 10.4 and it works good for all of these applications. It's not perfect, though. I just had my first kernel panic yesterday, and applications will sometimes quit when I ask too much from this computer.
I also have a fantastic wal-mart HP computer running Xp, and I just try to avoid using it when possible. Is it Window's fault that I never cared to install anivirus or antispyware until recently? No. Nor is it Window's fault that I would blindly install programs that I knew nothing about, then never bothered to uninstall them. I really abused that computer, and it really wasn't that great to begin with. But, I've never had a bsod on it.
Now, both of these computers suck. It's just that the iMac sucks a little less, so I use it for my main computer. All computers suck, just some a lot less than others. All of these X vs Xp arguments remind me of all the hicks at my school that get at each other's throats about Fords and Chevys. "Fords suck! Chevys rule!" "Ha, nope. Chevys suck, go ford!" They'll just blindly make these comments, for no reason. You know, they both make good cars, and you can choose whatever you need. If ford comes out with really cool, yet affordable car, and it's reliability is good, I might consider it! If chevy does the same, what the hell, I'll take a look at it. Same with OS's, if Vista is teh-bee's-knees, I'll probably get it. Likewise, if OS 10.5 has some cool features, why not check it out, and not worry "Oh man, that one dude I hang out with hates OS X, so I better not anger him, and just get a Windows machine!" Get whatcha need... Did I take up enough room on here, or what? haha... nothing to do today, can ya tell?

I think the biggest issue Microsoft will face (as evidenced here) is stigma based of overexaggerated stereotypes among consumers. Plus, iPods are still plenty trendy...so they'd have to engineer a lot of "cool factor" in an attempt to dethrone the iPod. The latest WMP is actually really slick (although I don't upgrade on my home machine due to all the DRM stuff tangled into it...though with iTunes and WMP, you'll eventually have no choice but to swallow the jagged pill). So I see Microsoft's biggest obstacle being a psychological/perception issue rather than a hardware issue.

For instance, the BSoD jokes/claims...something that I haven't seen on a Windows box in any memorable timespan (and usually it's failing hardware or a really crap driver issue, not Microsoft's software per se).

"I've used a PC all my life until 1999, and once I started using a Mac, there was no way I was going back to a bug ridden, non-secure, freeze prone, constantly crashing, poorly designed, rotten excuse for an OS named Windows."

I guess you never had to use OS 9 and lower...OMG, what garbage...you'd be repeating the same in reverse. The OS didn't even have pre-emptive multitasking...HELLLLLLOOOOO?!?! Format a floppy or copy a large file and go get a cup of coffee. Bad extensions, WTF? Oh and they did lock up and freeze too, that's for sure. The hardware may have been attractive, but the OS was garbage. I had to use Macs and PCs side by side for years with magazine publishing. Windows has architecture issues, but a well built/configured PC could easily be as (or more) reliable compared to a Mac...especially if you've always used the NT line of MS OSes. Also, Windows boxes could run circles around a Mac at the same price point. *nixes then take things to another level of tech sophistication. Here's a hint, Apple switched to using a new OS built on NeXT/BSD technology. OS X is pretty good, but before OS X, a Mac was more of a questionally functional appliance rather than a computer. For a long time, Macs were truly the "pretty blonde" stereotype of the PC world. Very pretty, not too bright (if not downright ditzy at times), and expensive to get.

If anything, most of the problems I have with spec PC systems is all the preloaded 100% garbage most companies cram onto their computers. I spend hours uninstalling things when I get a new laptop. Thanks for coming pre-configured with a mountain of resource hogging, useless, and borderline-spyware software.