Perhaps I'd be more accommodating if some of the more fundamental issues of the Windows operating system were addressed. (For example, in this era of connectivity and mass storage, why do I still need a "Save" menu item -- anywhere? Why isn't everything I do saved by default?) A lot of these changes feel gratuitous -- change for the sake of change and not for improvement. But even if the changes are meant to be improvements, it might have helped if the designers had taken a closer look at their QWERTY keyboards first.

There's been a lot of discussion about the implications of these new products, but one thing is clear. If you're looking to deploy, be prepared for a lot of users asking, "Who moved my stuff?"

Years ago, Bob Dylan sang, "It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls, for the times they are a-changin'." Who knew the Windows Bob was talking about was Vista?

Michael Gartenberg is vice president and research director for the Personal Technology & Access and Custom Research groups at JupiterResearch in New York. Contact him at mgartenberg2@optonline.net. His weblog and RSS feed are at http://weblogs.jupiterresearch.com/analysts/gartenberg.