StaffInfection's Journal: Is Vista the last major release of MS Windows?

There is general agreement that Vista will be the last major MS operating system release for some time to come. However, does it represent the last major release of the Microsoft operating system, period? Discussions are growing on the subject. Gartner Research predicts (http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=17&artnum=2&issue=20061229) this is the last major release as we know it. Future OSes from Microsoft will be modular and released incrementally. Other analysts are expecting the next OS from Microsoft to be web-based. With different consumer products such as GPS, PDAs, phones, computers and TVs apparently evolving into single devices, how will the next Microsoft OS fit in? Will operating systems be web-based, will desktop computers effectively disappear in the next decade and be replaced by pocket sized devices we plug and play anywhere we go? Will it take the open source community to develop and sustain the next generation operating system?