“The industry hasn’t seen a new desktop OS come from Redmond since Windows XP,” Chris Pirillo writes for Computer Power User. “We’ve all been waiting with bated breath for Vista to revolutionize the way we . . . what the hell is this?! RC1 feels and looks more like an early beta than it does a final product, and they want me to fork over how much for it?”

“Off the shelf, Windows Vista Ultimate will cost the user $399 per copy, with subsequent licenses weighing in at $359 each. Upgrade prices for Ultimate are slightly less exorbitant ($259 for the initial upgrade and $233 for additional copies). If you’re planning on upgrading your home network of five machines, you’re going to spend $1,191 for five Ultimate upgrades. Conservatively, if you’re upgrading the same network to Home Basic, you’re going to spend $460,” Pirillo writes.

“I’m a nanometer away from switching my family over to OS X when Apple releases Leopard in Q1 of 2007. It looks clean and elegant. It comes with all the software and services the average user could ever want. It runs on the same hardware. A system will be able to dual-boot between OS X and Windows, and pricing is no longer astronomical. But most importantly? With its UI inconsistencies, Vista feels completely schizophrenic, and that’s enough of a reason for anybody to leave Windows in the dust,” Pirillo writes.

“Yesterday’s arguments don’t really hold water in today’s marketplace, and as a serious technologist, you need to recognize that. Forget the whole ‘Windows has more software’ debate because that’s absolute bunk. More and more, we’re moving our lives online, spending our day in an email client and/or a Web browser,” Pirillo writes.

MacDailyNews Note: “Windows has more software” is not just “absolute bunk” because we’re spending so much time in a Web browser. “Windows has more software” is “absolute bunk” because the statement is patently false. Only Apple Mac can run Mac OS X and Windows and Linux. No other PC can do such a thing. Apple Macs can run more software than any other personal computer in the world. Period.

Pirillo continues, “Remember how you felt when you saw ‘The Phantom Menace’ for the first time? I was overwhelmingly disappointed. That’s exactly how Windows Vista RC1 makes me feel, and that’s not very likely to change between now and when the OS goes gold… Between Apple’s Boot Camp and Parallels (http://www.parallels.com), you’re going to have to make a strong argument to keep people from finally making the switch.”

Full article, “Vista Will Double Apple’s Market Share,” here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "mike n." and "Roberto" for the heads up.]

MacDailyNews Take: We have nothing to add except that the prediction of Apple’s Mac market share doubling is too conservative.

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