If Microsoft does release a Service Pack for Windows Vista next week, it would be a huge - yet somewhat predictable - turn around for the software giant. When Vista shipped, it was unveiled as the most secure, most reliable operating system (OS) ever.

But despite selling faster than XP, huge swathes of users - both home and business - are planning on waiting eons to make the switch. That's because users are savvier than ever - any negative publicity has only served to delay people's decision to upgrade.

Part of this hasn't been Microsoft 's fault. Both hardware and software vendors have been chronically slow with their efforts to make their products Vista-compatible.

Several analysts have commented on the lack of impact on the market of the new operating system. And so, despite the sales, Microsoft has to be looking at the penetration levels of Vista. At the moment, Microsoft is like an under-performing sheepdog, trying to round the unruly into the Vista pen, but somehow not quite attaining the success rate to get into the next round.

As I said in an earlier post , you and I also know that Vista isn't the sea-change in usability that previous OS upgrades were. And that's a problem. But then, even if a final SP1 does arrive in November, people will be on their way to upgrading their systems anyway. And when we buy a new PC, we get Vista anyway. That's the way it's destined to be.