Day of reckoning coming for Microsoft?

You've heard this one before: there are more and more truly outstanding pieces of software coming out as Open Source. Everyone has heard about FireFox, right, the wonderful Web Browser from the Mozilla guys. I just came across news that Internet Explorer usage fell again for the 7th straight month, and it seems that FireFox is taking up the slack. Take a look at Thunderbird 1.0, another gem. Thunderbird is an email client and it's a very nice piece of work. You can see both of these apps here. I also recently read notice that there's a project starting to combine several Open Source projects into an email, calendaring, and address book behemoth. Might this challenge Microsoft Outlook? Sounds like an outlandish thought doesn't it? You might know that I am a big Microsoft fan. I've said that only they have the wherewithal to build, test and deliver massively complex software to huge user bases. Don't be fooled: simplicity is good, but good software is usually very complicated below the skin. My read is that with successful efforts like FireFox and Thunderbird things may be getting interesting for Microsoft. It will take years, but I think we are seeing some stormclouds on the horizon.