And thanks to our new iForward program (Mach-based natch) we’re able to provide this picture in advance of Steve Ballmer unveiling his masterwork in New York, while the nation’s most powerful CIOs gather and meekly wait to be told just how badly the next two years of their lives are going to suck. Check out this article where MSNBC calls Vista a “dinosaur” and a Gartner analyst says “the cost of the upgrade is going to exceed the benefits of the operating system.” Nevertheless Rick Sherlund of Goldman Sachs predicts this new turd, er, OS, could add $1 billion to Microsoft revenues in the first year, “but it’s possible it could be twice that.” The sad thing is, he’s right. Frigtards everywhere will be using this crap. Rebooting, hanging, unplugging, pulling out batteries, screaming, swearing, killing viruses, reporting malfunctions to Microsoft. Some will actually love this experience. I weep for those people.

A little message to all you CIOs who are in New York and reading this before you go to bed tonight: Just remember, as you’re sitting there in the audience tomorrow, It doesn’t have to be this way. You don’t have to take it. Call me. Let’s talk.