Microsoft’s Big Celebration

Today, Windows Vista will be available for sale to the public. So will Office 2007.

So, is this a big deal? Microsoft is so large that a new OS release can't help but be. Microsoft needed Vista out soon in order to stay in the public eye so as to not lose market share to Linux and Apple. MS Office, on the other hand, is their accompanying moneygrab. Featuring a redesigned interface (so redesigned, you most likely won't know how to use it unless you've been working with their beta versions), and more bloated code and extra features you'll never use, the real reason for Office 2007's release is just for the money.

An interesting article on ars technica points out the economics of Vista OEM version licensing/piano wire (aka if your motherboard craps out: you're forced to upgrade).

If even 10% of the people who will eventually upgrade to Office 2007 instead switched to OpenOffice.org, Microsoft would have that much less of a stranglehold on the market. If you need more convincing, why.openoffice.org elaborates better on the points I otherwise would have covered. While you're giving it a test drive, you can also keep the car.

I know many people who will just say: "I'll just pirate it". Illegality aside, Stop promoting Microsoft by pirating their products.

Update:: Here's a flowchart, to help you decide if upgrading to Vista is right for you.