Well, we haven't seen any cold, hard numbers yet, but qualitatively speaking, we're going to have to assume that any anxiety about the Windows XP launch possibly derailing Apple's Mac OS X migration was totally groundless. Granted, we're not exactly the target audience for the XP hype machine (seeing as we're about as likely to use XP as we are to try flossing with a length of razor wire dipped in Tabasco sauce), but as far as we can tell, the main difference in the world now that the product has officially been released is that we spend way too much time watching people fly around on TV to the strains of an overplayed Madonna tune. Reports abound of resellers with massive inventories of Windows XP that are moving slower than a three-toed sloth with chronic fatigue syndrome. (Poor lil' fella.)

However, despite the fact that Windows XP evidently lets people fly while Mac OS X boasts no such ability to endow its users with superpowers, we certainly haven't heard of Mac users tossing their G4s out the window in a mad dash to switch over to what Billy Boy actually referred to as "the most important tool ever created." (Hey, Bill, ever heard of a "hammer"? C'mere, we'll show you what it's for.) Indeed, while it's something of a back-handed compliment, James Coates at the Chicago Tribune tells his readers that the launch of XP may herald "the time to pitch your Pentium" and "move to Mac OS X," because if your whole computing environment is just going to get thrown into pandemonium anyway, "why not go hog wild?" Okay, so it's not exactly a ringing endorsement; it's still kind of cool, though.

While Mr. Coates doesn't actually offer any specific reasons why users might want to run screaming from the latest operating system to crawl forth from the Redmond sludge, faithful viewer Matt Kuhns points out that The Register does. Be warned, however; while the article's scope is limited to "the irritations for ordinary users," there sure are an awful lot of them, considering the author only spent the weekend with the product. And the advent of Halloween notwithstanding, the graphic descriptions of frightening XPisms (the system's rejection of "unsigned" drivers, the inability to change network settings manually, and other restrictions referred to as its "'you're an idiot; let Daddy help' posture") may be too much for some people's delicate sensibilities. Viewer discretion is advised. (And even the hardiest readers may want to bail before the horrifying description of a Red Hat Linux 7.2 install, which is really scary.)

So Windows XP so far seems to have inspired a lot of yawns and a fair amount of vitriol, but probably not many sales. All the same, you might want to consider picking up a copy for yourself-- even if you don't even own a Wintel system on which to install it. See, faithful viewer The Amazing Llama finally found a real and compelling reason to buy the upgrade: free stuff. He reports that his local Staples was running a promotion whereby customers who purchase the Windows XP Home upgrade for $99 get a $150 digital camera and $30 worth of RAM for free after rebate; says he, "my copy of XP is going on eBay sometime tomorrow... the best part is that the camera is natively supported in OS X: I plug it in and it auto-downloads all of my fun pictures, and will make me a web page full of them." Now, how convenient is that?

We happened to notice that Staples.com has a similar offer whereby purchasers of the $99 XP Home upgrade qualify for a free Palm handheld, case, and software worth $175, so it appears that there's a lot of nice stuff available for free to people with enough cash flow and patience to play the Rebate Game. Indeed, given the number of copies of XP on eBay, it sounds like the Llama isn't the only person to notice this interesting little loophole; when last we checked, there were a whopping 389 copies up for bid. Kinda makes us wonder how many of those Windows XP upgrade kits are actually going to be used by the people who bought them. We're guessing... twelve?