Zimran Ahmed:

It will become increasingly expensive to use Microsoft. It will also be hard to operate outside their network, unless you use truly open protocols. The applications will become thick clients that increasingly mediate between the user and their data. So expect more frustration. And since monocultures are toxic to a network, expect more viruses that are more pervasive than anything we’ve seen so far. Businesses are going to have to get MUCH smarter than the current crop of execs who chase after any gee-gaw convinced it will finally make all their IT investments pay-off. If I was a business seriously interested in productivity through technology, I would stay away from XP and .NET.