Randall Kennedy has been pondering a radical set of possibilities: which of the current crop of *nix-based OS is best positioned to knock off Windows 7 come late 2009. The emerging challengers are evolving, to be certain. Ubutnu. OpenSolaris and, of course, Mac OS X. “How far they get during those intervening months will determine what percentage of those coveted XP fence-sitters finally choose to abandon Windows altogether,” Kennedy asserts in Handicapping the Windows 7 alternatives. “If you’re going to reject Microsoft’s upgrade path, then do yourself a favor and go all the way. Try one of these emerging competitors.” Software Development