He adds that the economic recession may accelerate Linux adoption.

"I think customers will pay a slight premium to get Windows, but at some point they could become indifferent to the OS to save money."

Like his Directions on Microsoft colleague Rosoff, Cherry thinks Microsoft's biggest threat is Windows users that do not feel compelled to change to a newer version of the OS.

"This means Microsoft not only has to convince us that they are better than Apple or Linux, but also that their - so much better that we are willing to go through the expense of upgrading."