As Microsoft delays Vista shipping there is one question left, who has more to gain out of it?

Firstly we can eliminate hardware partners of the Redmond giant as they, as well as the masses, have been clearly waiting to get their hands on the new operating system.

Could the answer be Apple? Would it be wrong to suppose that while Microsoft is trying to assure the so called perfection of Vista, Apple would benefit of this delayed launch?

Let’s imagine you are planning on buying a new PC. Security and features like photo editing or search are clearly some of the things you are looking for while deciding what product to buy then wouldn’t you take a look at those Macs as well?

Apple has increased its sales in the past years. With the Vista delay until January, the PC retailers are going to miss the 2006 holidays in order to make more profit. That is definitely going to boost Apple’s sales and allow them to grab a bigger bite of the market as well.

Microsoft has been working at its new OS for 5 years now and it still isn’t ready while Apple has been releasing updates to its Mac OS X at a much faster rate. On the other hand, the Redmond based company has a lot to take into consideration when working on the OS like a wide range of devices from different hardware manufacturers that it has to be compatible with, while Apple has a totally closed circle having only its own devices to think of.

Some of the features that Vista is to provide have already been included in the updates Apple made for its Mac OS, therefore are available to consumers. It would be interesting to see in the beginning of 2007 how much will have sales for Apple increased, especially now as predictions have been made.