Stop. Hold the front page everyone, Gartner's gone off on one again. According to Michael Silver and Neil Macdonald, two of the analyst giant's VPs, Windows is in danger of collapsing like an elderly relative after a particularly energetic game of gin rummy. The Gartner guys believe that Softie's place at the head of the IT captain's table may be at risk due to firms’ unwillingness to upgrade to Vista. They also said that Microsoft is neglecting developing markets, where buyers are more likely to be keen on low-cost than high functionality.

And then there is the web-based computing model, which old MS has reluctantly entered with all the relish of an epileptic walking into a nightclub. Yup, Seattle better be looking for a new favourite son, because Redmond's days are definitely numbered. Definitely. I mean, analysts are never wrong are they?