Ho Ho Ho

It's starting to look like a PC-free Christmas and everyone is blaming it on Microsoft's delayed shipment of Windows Vista.

Reports from the USA have PC shops offering Vista upgrade coupons with any new computer but until this thing ships the jury is still out on exactly how much grunt will be required.

Nobody wants to splurge on a new PC only to find they've got junk it in January or stay with WinXP. And the US data also suggests 70 percent of PCs will be in the sub-$1000 category which will likely not have what it takes to make Vista fly.

All this uncertainty isn't good for reseller business, and if we can't sell a few more tech toys at Christmas things are really looking dire.

Rabid for one is looking harder at becoming a full Apple reseller. After all, those cute boxes can now run WinXP if required, and Mac OS X looks a lot like, well, Vista actually. But it's here now and shipping.