If you've been comfortable with the operating system you've been using on your old computer -- whether it's Windows or the Mac OS -- get ready to be made uncomfortable. Both Microsoft and Apple have big updates coming this year, and you can expect a proportionate dose of hype. Upgrading to Windows XP or Mac OS X will make your computing experience smarter, faster and smoother, or so the pitch will go. Should the marketing pitch pay off, the folks in Redmond, Wash., and Cupertino, Calif., will be rewarded by having a small percentage of their users upgrade over the next year -- if they're astoundingly lucky, perhaps 20 percent.
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