(FORTUNE Magazine) – Wired magazine has called John C. Dvorak the ''Walter Winchell of computer journalists.'' His byline appears on 17 different columns a month in publications such as PC Magazine, PC Computing, and MacUser. His name frequently graces the covers of how-to tomes, though critics contend that Dvorak's own contributions are often minimal. Still, no one denies that he is a master of packaging and repackaging his ideas -- as evidenced by Dvorak Predicts: An Insider's Look at the Computer Industry (Osborne McGraw-Hill, $16.95). His predictions pop up early and often. On page ten he says, ''Microsoft's domination will come to an abrupt end.'' The company's famously hard-working employees will slack off, Dvorak figures, once Microsoft's growth slows and their chances of getting rich from stock options are no more. Meanwhile, he is a big believer in IBM. He says CEO Lou Gerstner will end the company's bureaucratic style, sell off assets (as he did at RJR Nabisco), and teach the Armonk crowd something about marketing. Dvorak is at his most entertaining when he cuts through the hype about new technologies. He sees ''little evidence that people want interactive TV'' and proclaims that ''virtual reality will be a dud.'' And he foresees a backlash - against new kinds of devices -- such as pagers that display E-mail -- aimed at keeping people connected to their bosses. ''These futuristic communicators are the amulets of today's submissive office worker,'' he writes. ''I think instead of being in a holster, they should be worn around the neck on a heavy chain.''