Potentially going back on its mantra of “no updates before Longhorn,” Microsoft may be planning an OS refresh for “home” and “professional” clients before Longhorn debuts. It’s not much of a stretch to those who watch Microsoft closely; the company could never go as many as 6 years without promoting a new-ish version of XP, potentially to the tune of $99 *cha-chings* everywhere. And hey, watching all these Mac users pay $129/year for OS upgrades must be a strong reminder of the “build it and they will come” way of thinking.
http://arstechnica.com/news/posts/1077921370.html