It's been a long time coming, but we're pleased to announce that Apple finally has an operating system that's knocked Windows clear out of the number one spot on a yearly top ten list! That's right, everyone; Mac OS X has just kicked Windows 2000's blue-screening butt, and the lickable new operating system isn't even out yet. Okay, well, actually it's because Mac OS X isn't out yet that it has managed to unseat Windows 2000 from its perch at the top spot from the last two years running, but you have to accentuate the positive, you know?

Here's the deal: as faithful viewer Jeff Nouwen was kind enough to tell us, Wired has just posted its annual list of Vaporware products, and Mac OS X holds the dubious distinction of gracing the very top of the list. Let's give the tardy system a big round of applause, people, because Windows NT 5 topped the charts in 1998 and again in 1999 (after it was renamed Windows 2000). It must have taken a remarkable amount of effort and restraint for Apple's development team to hold off on releasing Mac OS X until the calendar year after Microsoft finally gave in and shipped the long-overdue update to Windows NT. (It's kind of like a blinking contest, or maybe a slightly less dangerous but much more expensive game of chicken.)

However, winning the Vaporware crown is not without its sacrifices. One gentleman who nominated Mac OS X for the award indicates that he "got so tired of waiting" for Apple to ship a "decent operating system" that he "became a PC enthusiast instead of a Mac enthusiast." Since that statement implies that he thinks that Microsoft has a "decent operating system" whereas Apple does not, we can only surmise that the poor guy has some serious personal problems that need resolving. (His admission that he "like[s] Bill Gates now" is further evidence of some deep-seated psychosis.) Still, insane or not, he's a member of the computer-buying public-- and he's not buying from Apple anymore.

But now that Apple has finally beat out Microsoft for the Vaporware award, hopefully the company can finally push the product out the door and start winning back some of its customers who have since defected. Unless, of course, Steve's not satisfied with only a single year at the top compared to Bill's two. He may go for the tie, or even a 3-to-2 win. If that's the case, expect him to announce Mac OS X's official release date when he delivers the keynote at Macworld Expo in a couple of weeks: January, 2003.