2006 Predictions?

- Apple will come out with an iPod "boombox" (dock with speakers).  It will be overpriced and Apple will still sell millions of them.

- MSFT will finally hit $30 a share.

- At Macworld, Steve Jobs will pull a "One more thing..." when talking about the new Intel-based Macs, and announce some kind of compatibility with Windows, either using the Intel Virtualization Technology, or "Yellow Box" for Windows (which will allow running Mac OS X apps under Windows).

- Intel's new 64nm hardware, new versions of OS X and Windows, and the Exchange 12 requirements for a 64-bit CPU will spur lots of hardware investment.  A lot of people will buy new computers in 2006. 

- MSFT will finally hit $40 a share.

- By year's end, Apple's market share will have doubled, from ~4% to ~8%.  Most of the increase will come from people who switched from Linux.

- LCD prices will continue to drop.  Just as everyone finishes buying new LCD monitors with HDMI connectors to support HD content, HDMI will be obsoleted in favor of UDI.

- The day after Vista is released, an open-source group will publish a virus and claim that Vista is insecure.  This will make headlines worldwide, even though the virus installation requires being logged on locally as Administrator.

- 2006 will be the year of backlash as three major record labels are found guilty by New York State of collusion and racketeering in an attempt to raise prices on the iTunes Music Store.  The MPAA will be forced to stop suing people at random after they accidentally file a file-sharing lawsuit against the recently-deceased wife of a Republican Senator.  And Sony will be liable for billions in damages as a result of malware installed on users' PCs.

- After Vista and Office 12 are released, Microsoft will revise earnings estimates upward.  MSFT will hit $60 per share.  There will be a collective sigh of relief as many options will no longer be underwater.  The parking lots at Microsoft will resemble new car dealerships.

- Google will lose multiple lawsuits, including a patent infringement case involving GTalk, the Authors Guild, and even Jews for Jesus.  A continued release of half-baked betas, embarassing vulnerabilities in Google Desktop, and typo-squatters gaming Google AdSense will have many wondering if Google hasn't jumped the shark.  Microsoft will release their own version of AdSense, which will be well-received.

- MSN, Google and Yahoo! will all try to clone Digg, and fail miserably

- The HD-DVD vs. BluRay battle will rage on, until late in 2006, when Maxell threatens to kill both of them with a disc that can hold 1.6 terabytes.

Rossj wrote:

Karim wrote: MSFT will hit $60 per share.

Now I know your predictions aren't serious

Saruman the Off-White: Images do come to me... colors, waving... a flag... blue, red, green, yellow... yes, a flag... an Elvish word, "Nâ-as-daqh..." no, "Nâsdaq..." "NASDAQ..." a rune to signify gold... a number: threescore.  Yes, threescore is the number.  The letters, M, S, F, T...  A vista... a window in the air, an aero window... many in the lands of Men, with a clouded window... and much gold for the makers thereof... and a rich man, laughing...

W3bbo wrote:

Karim wrote: - At Macworld, Steve Jobs will pull a "One more thing..." when talking about the new Intel-based Macs, and announce some kind of compatibility with Windows, either using the Intel Virtualization Technology, or "Yellow Box" for Windows (which will allow running Mac OS X apps under Windows).

That Safari screenshot is actually a Firefox skin.

The two screenshots don't look the same.  Your Firefox skin has the Aqua-style minimize, maximize and close buttons on the left; the screenshot I posted has Windows-style min/max/close buttons on the right that suspiciously resemble... iTunes for Windows. 

I'm not saying it couldn't be a hoax... but if it is, someone went out of their way to make it look like an app that was ported to Windows.

I confess I'm biased, though -- it's one of those impossibly cool X-Files things that make you "want to believe."