Things can go wrong with software, and users are IT's first line of defense against bugs, slowdowns, crashes or simply very bad ideas. Users find ways around the problems and keep doing their jobs. The more familiar the software is, the better users are at that.

But a new operating system makes it harder for users to figure out successful work-arounds. Besides, every user department is shorthanded and under pressure. There's no time for solving software problems. So fixes have to wait for IT's swamped help desk. Lost time means lost productivity and could mean lost sales or unhappy customers. In other words, lost money.

What about the cost of keeping creaky old Windows XP running? Yes, that's money too. But even if that's as expensive as upgrading -- which it almost certainly isn't -- a "one more year with XP" approach doesn't require a budget line item for the upgrade. Nobody has to convince the CFO to keep that old rust-bucket XP running. Don't laugh -- it's paid for.

Money, money, money; that's us.

Microsoft should understand that -- just as we understand why Microsoft has started to push Vista with arguments ranging from the sincere to the screwy. (No, , most users won't ask their boss why they can't get Vista at work this year; they just want to keep getting a paycheck this year.)