Android is going to give Apple a serious run for its money in the tablet arena as well, mirroring to a slightly less dramatic extent its rapid ascendancy on smartphones. I've lost count of just how many Android tablets are expected in the coming months, but there's no way the solitary iPad can continue to dominate in the face of such .

3. Ubuntu and Linux

Ubuntu is going to continue the strides it made this year and finally give Linux some of the brand recognition it needs on the desktop and maybe some mobile devices as well, making it a serious contender in the mainstream, even among nontechnical consumers.

In particular, the combination of the new Unity interface and the promise to make upcoming Ubuntu versions what may be considered the first true "Linux for the masses." Canonical's research and development in such areas as context-aware computing, meanwhile, could push it ahead even further, and its debut on the tablet will give it a whole new arena to compete in.

In short, I predict big things for Ubuntu next year, even as and as Windows continues to fade in a cloud of malware.