I think it's too bad in a way. I would have liked to see a new Windows Media version for the Mac, and have Microsoft take the media battle to Apple's home court.
Microsoft's best marketing for Vista will come from simplicity -- making the value of Vista as easy to understand as possible, so people can look and say Vista is a lot better than the version they have now, Are there too many of them to communicate the value of Vista?
Both products reached the 'good enough' threshold a version or so ago.
It's not the optimal situation, to be launching the next-generation version of Windows right after the big holiday sales season.