many consumers are opting for used computers with XP installed as a default, rather than buying an expensive new PC with Vista and downgrading. Big business, which typically thinks nothing about splashing out for newer, more up-to-date PCs, is also having trouble with Vista, with even firms like Intel noting XP would remain the dominant OS within the company for the foreseeable future.

What's really important about this is not so much that Vista is manifestly such a dog, but that the myth of upgrade inevitability has been destroyed. Companies have realised that they do have a choice — that they can simply say "no". From there, it's but a small step to realising that they can also walk away from Windows completely.... [similar problems with OOXML acceptance mean] we may well be near the tipping point for migrations to free software on the desktop.