Now that you know how you scored, you probably want to know why. Check out the answers below for the gory details. And be sure to return next week for another news quiz, ripped straight from the tech headlines.

Question 1: What percentage of the world's desktops run Mac OS X?

10 points
c. 8 percent

At least according to Net Applications, which clocks OS saturation by visits to some 40,000 Web sites. Apple extended its lead over Linux (0.88 percent) and Windows 2000 (2.1 percent) but still trails Vista (16.1 percent) and the late lamented XP, which boasts a whopping 71 percent share. No sign of a reprieve from Microsoft yet.

Question 2: How many petitioners does it take to persuade Microsoft to keep its aging OS?

10 points
c. 212,000
d. Not enough

More than 200,000 have spoken, but only OEM vendors such as Dell seem to have heard, trumpeting the option to "downgrade" new business PCs to XP (while still paying for a Vista license). Hey, it's not like anyone still uses XP anymore. Right?

Question 3: What popular online acronym is apparently disturbing Carolina drivers?

10 points
c. WTF

Which, as fans of Battlestar Galactica know, stands for 'What The Frak?' A 60-year-old technology teacher in Fayetteville -- clued in to the meaning of WTF by her grandkids -- alerted the state DMV, which offered to swap plates for some 10,000 drivers free of charge. Apparently including Gomer and Aunt Bea.

Question 4: Who has Microsoft not bought lately?

10 points
d. YaData

This was a bit of a trick question; Microsoft bought targeted ad firm YaData last February. The Redmond leviathan plans to integrate Powerset's natural language search technology into its Live Search tool, while adding MobiComp's social-networking skills to its Windows Mobile handsets. Navic Networks, acquired last month by Microsoft, makes technology that lets couch potatoes "click" on TV commercials to get more info about the products being hawked. Gates may be gone, but he apparently left the blueprints for total world domination behind.

Question 5: What's the penalty for driving and dialing in California?

10 points
b. $20 fine first offense, $50 thereafter

Of course, if you have a Bluetooth headset, you can gab to your heart's content. Then all you have to worry about are those nasty acronyms on your license plate.