Microsoft has finally come out with a name for its sort-of-next-generation operating system, which has been code-named "Longhorn." The new version of Microsoft Windows will be called "Windows Vista."

Okay, so it sounds stupid. Actually, "Windows Longhorn" would probably have been a better name, anyway. But what has Windows Vista done for me lately?

Longhorn has been delayed, delayed, and then delayed again. One of the new release's most hyped features, the next-generation file system WinFS, was scrapped last year. Vista will continue to use NTFS, like Windows 2000 and Windows XP before it.

But one of the whiz-bang features that will remain is Avalon, Longhorn's ultra-cool graphics engine, which allows for translucent windows and will allow each window to be rendered individually. This means, though, that the computer that you're running Windows XP on right now probably won't be able to use Avalon, especially if it's using an integrated video card.

With the acquisition a year ago of Giant Software, which resulted in the creation of Microsoft Antispyware, and its purchase of anti-virus maker Sybari Software, we may expect to see antivirus and antispyware protection built into the operating system, which is good, since Windows attracts a lot of spyware and viruses.