Lotus Foundations as a Desktop operating system?

Ever had a piece of sticky tape stuck to your fingers and nothing you do will get rid of it?

• You roll it up into a ball and it stays stuck to the palm of your hand.
• You pick it off with your other hand and it's now stuck to that hand.
• You wrap it up in a tissue and throw the bundle in the bin but the tissue tears and it's still stuck to your fingers.

I think Microsoft must feel that way with Windows XP. Every time they try to wrap it up and throw it away they are forced to extend its service life for another six months. Anyway, that's the story if you read Mary-Jo Foley's blog. On the other hand, if you believe what Joe Wilcox is typing there has been no extension of XP service life since Microsoft is just providing additional access to the XP media.

Either way, Windows XP is going to be hanging around as a mainstream OS a lot longer than Microsoft would like. I don't have much love for Microsoft as an organization (although I know some really great people who work there) but I am starting to feel a bit sorry for the Vista marketing team. Vista's replacement (Windows 7) will probably be available sometime in late 2009/early 10 at which point it might be going head-to-head with a Foundations OS for the desktop.

No, I don't have any inside information. Certainly IBM haven't made any noise about a Foundations-based desktop OS. Foundations is a server OS and while it could be redeveloped for the desktop, it would be a lot of work. I mean IBM could certainly package up a Foundations OS for the desktop and Lotus Symphony and make the whole thing available as a free download (or preload on new computers), but IBM has never announced such a strategy. Why would they want to cripple both of Microsoft's cash cows? Have they no shame?
:)