First, some good news. Last week I mentioned a Russian schoolteacher who was accused of using unlicensed versions of Microsoft’s Windows and Office software on 12 PCs in his classroom. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sent a personal letter to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates asking for mercy for the teacher, who claimed that the PCs came loaded with the software. Under Russia’s intellectual property laws, the teacher could have faced up to five years in prison, although the prosecution instead sought only a fine of 3,000 rubles ($114.63 US, according to my Dashboard’s Currency Converter widget). This Thursday a Russian court rejected the case against the teacher, calling it “trivial”. The teacher told the Associated Press he was “off to drink champagne” after the decision. Microsoft has denied any involvement in the case. Whew.

Now that the “Wow Starts Now” banners have been pulled down and the confetti has been swept up at Microsoft’s Vista release parties, the PC world settles into the harsh realities of actually applying a major upgrade to a Microsoft operating system. We Mac users, accustomed to major operating system upgrades (Apple’s Mac OS X has been through five major upgrades in the time it took Microsoft to get Vista out the door), are looking forward to Mac OS 10.5 “Leopard” sometime this spring.

This week an industry analyst predicted that Apple will sell 9 million copies of Leopard in 2007. Microsoft, on the other hand, conservatively estimates that over 100 million people will be using Vista by the end of 2007. In other words, Apple will sell in Leopard’s first year what Microsoft sells in Vista’s first month. I guess it’s true: misery loves company.

Google’s free email service, called, fittingly, Google Mail, is now accepting requests from “the general public” for email accounts. Previously, Google Mail accounts could only be acquired by invitations from someone already enrolled in Google Mail. Besides handy browser-based access, you can also configure Apple Mail to send and receive Google Mail. And, hey, it’s free, it’s spam-filtered (I’ve never received any on my invitation-only account), and there are very few ads to endure.

Finally, and I’m not going to provide any details, but sources tell the MacMaineiac that this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue will feature a model wearing nothing but an iPod. A new low in product placement, I think. What’s on YOUR iPod?