14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft wants customers to adopt Windows Vista as soon as possible. Ever since the business launch in November 2006, and the general consumer launch in January 2007, the Redmond company has advertised its latest Windows operating system as an epitome of security, performance and usability, all the while pushing XP to the background, and setting it up for expiration. However, users in both the home and the corporate environments failed to crowd around the Wow. Although Microsoft is applauding no less than 60 million sold Windows Vista licenses in the first six months of availability, approximately the equivalent of 6% of the market, the operating system's momentum indicated clear signs of slowing down.
A recent survey performed by ChangeWave, a research firm owned by Phillips Investment Resources, clearly illustrates that there is still little to no enthusiasm over the migration/upgrading to Windows Vista. "There is still no great rush in the corporate world to adopt Vista. Most importantly, 62% of respondents said their company has no plans to upgrade to Vista -- one point less than previously. Moreover, just 15% reported their company has an upgrade plan in place -- down two points from previously. As for PC installs, 28% said their company has some computers with Vista already installed -- a three-point uptick from April," revealed ChangeWave's Joshua Levine.
No less than 1,600 IT executives participated in the survey. In the corporate world, software upgrades are often correlated with new hardware purchases. But no less than 36% of respondents indicated that their company doesn't plan to acquire any new machines in the next three months. Additionally, another 38% stated that with their new computers they will opt for Windows XP, while only 17% plan to go for Vista. Microsoft however is painting another picture, and even goes as far as to advise customers not to wait for SP1 in the first quarter of 2008 in order to upgrade.
"Windows Vista was made available to Business Customers Nov of 2006, with the adoption picking up in the enterprise segment it's likely that the new apps and support for new hardware devices coming from ISVs and OEMs will favor Vista (XP is 6 years old OS and as the time goes on, the support will diminish)," commented Omer Qureshi, Microsoft Technology Development Manager.