The results of the Longhorn poll don't give me the feeling that a lot of you are eagerly awaiting the release of Microsoft's next version of Windows. In fact, it sounds like at least some of you are looking for -- or have already found -- alternatives.

Staying with existing Windows versions was mentioned, along with Linux, and Apple's OS X:

(If you took the Longhorn poll you can see the complete results at Cast Your Vote On Longhorn. If you didn't take the poll it's still in operation. Just vote for your choice and then the results will be displayed.)

Whoever wrote that last comment about Windows 2000 has a lot of company. A survey released this week says 48 percent of all business PCs are still running Windows 2000. What's more, this number has shrunk by just 4 percent since the first quarter of 2003.

Microsoft has already announced it's moving Windows 2000 into "extended support," which means, among other things, there won't be an Internet Explorer 7 for Win200, but that's no great loss. IE is not exactly the browser of the future anyway.

"Extended support" means that Microsoft will still be issuing security patches for another five years. But security isn't everything. I think it's entirely possible Microsoft may release Longhorn, and find that Windows 2000 users still won't move, but instead start to pressure the company to continue to resume full support of Win2000 -- or turn to third parties.

Or alternative operating systems. Linux still isn't making much headway as a desktop OS. But Apple OS X will run on Intel chips starting next year, just about the time Longhorn is released. A pitched battle for the Win 2000 upgrade market between Microsoft and Apple would be an interesting fight to watch, wouldn't it?