[>BKA< T Wrecks]

@ that Longhorn system specs thingy:

I don't think that's a disadvantage for M$... the opposite might be true! Look at the entire PC industry: What are they interested in? OSs that run on the slowest PCs so that nobody needs to upgrade? Hell, no! They need a constant development of more and more resource-hungry OSs, apps and games so that their MHz hype can continue. Why would companies like Dell be interested in selling low-cost PCs bundled with a resource-saving OS, when with Longhorn they have a good argument to pack even the most basic office PC (profile: electronic typewriter with internet access) full of components like gigs of RAM, a 3+ GHz CPU and a 128+ MB DX7+ gfx card and so on? They will be eager to use the new windows version, the more resource-hungry, the better! The additional money they get from selling higher performance PCs outweighs those few $$$ for a Longhorn installation 10 times.

And the users? Well, they don't want to think about PCs in any other way than they think about electric toasters or refridgerators... take what's in the box and be happy. And if those boxes keep getting more expensive, that's just the way things are... I mean, look at me: I'm still running Win98SE, and everything runs fine on it. I don't need no XP to run my apps and games - but the vast majority of all people think "the newer, the better", so they will upgrade to Longhorn as soon as they can...
And 80% of them won't even know they can use a different OS... it would sound to them like using some obscure Russian heating mechanism for your beatiful new American-brand toaster... no way, and if it's free and programmed by some geeks, all the more reasons to steer clear of it... why would a free OS be better than one I paid 200 bucks for? Sad, but that's the way it is IMHO.