Microsoft: Stop !

"Processor speeds will double every 18 months" said Gordon Moore.

And in my opinion, the primary factor that has made such rapid increases in processor speeds commercially viable (With customers willing to upgrade their computers/processors at regular intervals) is Microsoft.

Think about it - If Microsoft had never developed XP, and all the world had was Windows 2000, would we really have needed the Pentium 3.4 Ghz chip ? Could we not have achieved similar levels of computing speed with a 2.4, due to the "lighter" nature of Windows 2000 ?

Of course XP is far superior to 2000 in many ways, but seriously, when is Microsoft going to stop ?

I believe that Microsoft's constant development of new operating systems with more demanding computing requirements is driving the growth of companies like Intel and AMD. Or is it the other way around, with the growth of processing speed making it possible for Microsoft to innovate faster, albeit with less consideration of efficiency ?