Windows Vista is an operating system built from delay to delay. And there is a consistent amount of delays still to come in relation to Microsoft's latest operating system. Even though Vista was made available for Microsoft Software Assurance customers on November 30, 2006 and for the general public on January 30, 2007, the operating system is not synonymous with a corporate success. Just the opposite, in fact.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has recently disclosed that approximately 40 million Vista licenses were shipped worldwide in the first 100 days. However, figures of the platforms performance in corporate environments are drastically more timid. Companies such as Intel and Dell have postponed upgrading to Vista until 2008, and security developer Sophos revealed that it sees no advantage in switching to Vista altogether.

And when it comes to corporations, a key element associated with the deployment of Windows Vista is hardware upgrades. Enterprise customers manage hardware upgrades in corporate cycles. If Windows Vista manages to fall within a corporate upgrade cycle, then the operating system will be deployed. A recent study performed by Bank of America highlighted the fact that corporations are by no means crowding to deploy Windows Vista. Moreover, the study indicated that the vast majority will only consider moving to Vista concomitantly with a 2009 corporate upgrade cycle.

Another study on the impact of Windows Vista, but this time from In-Stat, delivers the same conclusion. "Corporations were likely to delay the upgrade cycle a year or more," senior analyst Ian Lao, In-Stat stated. "If planning to buy 1,000 machines, I'm still going to buy them, just a little later." According to In-Stat, corporations will even postpone computer upgrades to match the migration to Vista. "The PC upgrade cycle dictates the operating system purchase" Lao added.