Vista’s predecessor, XP, did not sell nearly as many copies when it was first released.

“We are encouraged to see such a positive consumer response to Windows Vista right out of the gate,” said Microsoft’s Bill Veghte.

Vista aims to provide better search functions and is said to promote internet advertising. The software also boasts security enhancements and more user-minded features.

The system offers six versions Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise and Ultimate, plus a Starter Edition.

“Since the launch of Windows Vista, Dell consumer customers have overwhelmingly chosen premium versions of the operating system that enable them to have a richer experience with music, video, photography and other computing applications they choose,” said Neil Hand, vice president of Dell’s Consumer Product Group.

Greg Brandeau of Disney said in Business Week that Pixar is “dying to use something like this.” They’re very close to signing a contract with Google. I guess Eric Schmidt won’t be able to say Google isn’t competing with Microsoft any more. The weather forecast from Microsoft’s H-Q calls for heated anger followed by random chair throwings. Duck!

The Internet has been under attack, and some evidence suggests it started in South Korea. Three of the thirteen root servers managed by Ultra D-N-S were hammered by lots of data, but the servers continued to function. The Department of Homeland Security has been watching the attack, and they said:

“There is no credible intelligence to suggest an imminent threat to the homeland or our computing systems at this time.”

However, it has been reported that some of the servers being attacked happen to be operated by the Department of Defense. At this point it looks more like someone showing off than actually trying to take down those machines. Nice try, guys, but I can still get to YouTube without a problem. Don’t you script kiddies have to go home to Mommy soon?

Facebook is coming to cable. The social networking site has a deal with Comcast to launch “The Facebook Diaries.” “American High” producer R-J Cutler will develop what Comcast hopes will be an edgy series that drives traffic to its Ziddio web site. In March, they will run a contest and request videos from people to create the Diaries.

“We’re tapping into Facebook’s very large and very young demographic,” said Elizabeth Schimel, senior vice president of entertainment for Comcast Interactive Media.

I don’t know about you, but to me, nothing screams edgy quite like a multi-billion dollar cable company trying to “tap the college demographic.” Think there will be a lot of ads? I do.

Could eBay stand between Google and $900 million dollars from MySpace? Probably not, but they may be slowing down the process of getting everyone to sign off on the search and advertising deal that put Google on MySpace. The Wall Street Journa l said MySpace’s owner News Corp wants to be able to make other deals without Google complaining:

“MySpace wants to ensure that the terms originally agreed — as outlined in a hastily drafted deal letter of intent in August — don’t limit its ability to work with third parties such as eBay.”

Google doesn’t like the idea that MySpace could have some kind of commerce deal with eBay that uses PayPal instead of Google Checkout. It will be kind of hard for Google to undercut eBay if companies like News Corp go around making big deals with them. Remember, Google, don’t be evil.

Google could be very evil if they find you trespassing on their property. But if you find yourself at the Googleplex, Valleywag has suggested 25 things you should see there before you die. What can you see on a tour through Google’s reality? How about a dinosaur, a massage parlor, and some strange statues of guys doing balancing acts? It’s got to be more interesting than seeing the same guy take the last cup of coffee from your office machine every day.

Webmaster Alert! Digg now has smart Digg buttons. Yes … you heard me right. Digg now has buttons that think … at least according to Digg’s Brian Link. Wait a minute … is LINK really your last name Brian? Hmm…

You can find the new brainy buttons that will help you promote your site on Digg by going to Digg.com SLASH tools SLASH integrate.

Last but not least … congratulations to our WebProNews bud Rand Fishkin!

Apparently, the famous Super Bowl marriage proposal ad that wasn’t was from Super SEO man Rand.

Wow, what an exciting industry this search engine world is becoming. It wasn’t that long ago that Rand was just a simple WebProNews fill-in interviewing Google’s Vanessa Fox for a partying Mike McDonald at SES Chicago.

All kidding aside, Rand Fishkin announced on his blog last night…

“As some folks had already guessed, I was the MySuperProposal guy. Tonight, I proposed to Mystery Guest on her favorite show, Veronica Mars. The video is at iFilm – the response should be up very soon (but
here’s a spoiler, she said YES!)”