Windows 7 What will -- and won't -- Microsoft do i

It;s time for that Microsoft pundits, press and the peanut ############## to stick our necks out and make our year-ahead predictions concerning the Redmondians.When I looked back at my Microsoft predictions for 2008, I used to be shocked I used to be truly relatively accurate.I was ideal about five of them — everything from Fiji resurfacing (though very badly), to Apple admitting it had licensed ActiveSync,Microsoft Office 2007 Pro, to OOXML getting the ISO standards nod. I used to be early on a couple of my guesses,Office Pro Plus 2010, specifically Windows Mobile phones getting Zuned (that will be announced at this 12 months;s Consumer Electronics Show, it seems),Office Professional 2007, and Office 14 hitting beta (Office testers are expecting code real soon now). I was dead wrong on two: Former Adobe exec Bruce Chizen didn;t end up joining Microsoft. (My bet? Stephen Elop got the job for which Chizen could have been a candidate.) And Microsoft did end up fielding a tech preview of Windows 7; I said there was no way they;d do so in 2008.So let me give my crystal ball another spin. Here;s what I think Microsoft will do in 2009.1. Ship Windows 7. RTM is sounding like a done deal for Q3 2009. Holiday PCs — and maybe even back-to-school ones — will be preloaded with Win 7.2. Ship Windows 7 Server, a k a Windows Server 2008 R2, either on the same day as Windows 7 or very shortly thereafter.3. Ship Office 14. Yeah, I know testers aren;t getting code until early 2009. But the Office team hasn;t been sitting on its hands. As usual, Office testers don;t get test builds until the next version is pretty much set-in-stone. RTM guess? Q4 2009.4. Ship Visual Studio 2010. Don;t let the name fool you. VS 2010 will hit before the end of this yr.5. Deliver the final Azure services platform to developers. Microsoft can;t let Amazon completely run away using the cloud-computing developer market. Officials said at the Professional Developers Conference in October that they;d release the final Azure platform in the latter half of 2009. I think they will make good on that goal.6. Deliver take one of its Zune Mobile services to handset makers/carriers before the end of 2009. Project Pink — a k a the Zunification of Windows Mobile — will be shown at CES in January and start appearing on phones by the end of 2009.7. Rebrand Live Search as Kumo — but still be unable to grow its query share much beyond 10 percent. If Microsoft does end up doing some kind of search partnership with Yahoo (an event I;d guess is still relatively likely, once a new Yahoo CEO is in place),Windows 7 Ultimate Key, Microoft;s query share will go above 10 percent, but will still be nowhere near Google;s 60+ percent. Even deals like Dell preloading the MSN toolbar with Live Search on new PCs (which takes effect in March,Office 2010 Activation Key, I hear), won;t get Microsoft in Google;s query-share ballpark.8. Find itself defending its Windows Live/Windows 7 integration before the European Commission, possibly as a result of a new antitrust complaint lodge by Google.9. Let go thousands of contractors, consolidate product groups and nearly freeze hiring. But not lay off any of its 90,000-plus full-time employees or require them to take unpaid vacation days.10. Become so completely consumed by Apple envy that it over-invests on the consumer side of the house. In 2009, Microsoft;s failure to tend to its enterprise knitting will begin hurting its business software/services sales.Your turn. What do you expect the Softies to do — and not to do — in 2009?