The new version of Microsoft Windows was supposed to ship this summer. But it won't. The latest is that it could ship by the end of the year. Bill Gates has gone on record stating that it (probably) will. Others aren't so sure.

So what if it doesn't? A software engineer has put $10,000 of his own money down on a bet with Gates that it won't. The ball is Bill's court.

In any case, whenever Vista does ship, Microsoft will already be thinking about the next upgrade to Windows. In fact, that work is already underway, codenamed Vienna.

So does anyone want to put their money down on whether Vienna will be released before the Big Dig audit is complete?