Is Microsoft about to release a Windows "kill switch"?

[nihil]

Hey kris whilst that was an attempt at humour, there is a serious side?

Linspire and the other one (Zanadu?) are already in position, but if you look at the latest SuSE and RedHat offerings you will see that it would not take that much effort to stick a dumbed down GUI in front of them?

Apple are already there, as my wife has demonstrated. She has no problems moving between Apple and Windows as a user.

That brings me to my main point. Of all the "average users" that you know, how many have any idea of how the Windows OS works as opposed to OS X, VMS, Solaris, AIX or whatever? My answer is "none", because all they see is the GUI? If that works for them, they are happy

I would support that argument by asking how many office/clerical workers do you know who haven't the faintest idea how to use "keyboard shortcuts" that are much faster than trying to shove a spear up the rectum of an icon?

I think that applications are going the same way............... Although I have a number of MS Office installations, I actually use "Open Office" most of the time

I just wonder what direction Microsoft are taking, and if they realise how close the competition is to them. It would only take the big OEMs to ditch them and their stock would go into freefall

[the tree]

I don't have any intention of buying another Windows system, (except possibly for accedemic purposes, when it wouldn't be allowed near the Internet), so this wouldn't bother me too much if it did happen. But I still doubt that it would, like the Texan said, no-one updates as much as they should and I really doubt that it'd be possible to explain a Kill-Switch to a lot of users.