Windows Cleaning

Has Bill Gates finally developed a sense of style? I would say absolutely yes.

I've spent the last few weeks with a final release version of the new Windows Vista operating system. As much fun as I have had over the years ripping on Gates -- and his neo-adolescent software misadventures -- even I have to admit that Vista is a major step forward for Microsoft (MSFT).

It's a step that brings the company into a new realm of ease of use, good design and dare I say, elegance.

You almost want to yell "Bravo."

Besides getting over the shock of reading the words "elegance" and "Microsoft" in the same sentence, there will be much for the average Windows computer user to get over in his or her perception of Microsoft products.

Gone is the clunky, just-shut-up-and-be-thankful-it-works-at-all Windows design esthetic.

Today's Vista is an intuitive, well laid out, genuinely effective operating system jammed with great features and security. And when the code is used in concert with Microsoft Office 2007, the software suite presents a multifunction package capable of handling your movies, accounting, marketing, the usual assortment of office tasks and even kicking your butt in a nasty game of chess.

The only slam against Vista and its new line of software -- and it is a big one -- is cost. Vista is not cheap. Not at all.

As much fun as it is to blow a fortune on technology, let's be real: $399 for the top-of-the-line Vista Ultimate operating system and $679 for the similar Microsoft Ultimate Office 2007 is a lot of money for software. Further, it's not as if there aren't cheaper choices.

For the first time in over a decade, Microsoft faces real competition.

Commercial Linux-based software alternatives, which can be a tenth of the cost of Windows Vista, are now mainstream. Code like Red Hat (RHAT), for example, comes with advanced Windows-like features and has customer support. And true open-source code like Debian and Ubuntu are no longer strictly geeks-only.

Even more importantly, there is almost certainly going to be a free operating system from none other than Google (GOOG) to match its Google Docs and other software applications. (Google fanatics speculate the code will arrive sometime in 2007.)

And in one of the strangest quirks of the modern computing wars, the new discount hero is none other than Apple (AAPL).