ZDNet's Mary Jo foley reports that Microsoft is working on a kitchen-specific version of Windows Vista. Actually, Microsoft wants you to have a computer in every room, with applications tailored to that room.

The Kitchen Client will likely be a layer of software running over Windows Vista that includes a family calendar, recipe center, bulletin board, and entertainment features like music and video. It will probably run on some sort of a tablet PC so that you can interact with the computer via a stylus with digital ink and/or a touch screen.

Not to sound like a luddite, but it seems like a dry erase board and a radio would be able to do most of the same things for a lot cheaper. But they can't connect to your home network to interact with other PCs in the house or go online to use Windows Live services.

And odds are you'll be able to pick up a Kitchen Client for significantly less than the $5000+ that early coffee-table style PCs running Surface are expected to cost.

Note that the PC in the picture is not technically a Kitchen Client, but rather a HP touch-screen PC running Windows Vista and HP software designed to make kitchen operation a bit easier.