Survey: 6 in 10 companies to skip Windows 7
Mon Jul 13, 2009 11:30AM EDT
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Good buzz and reviews can only get you so far, it seems: In a survey performed by systems management consulting group ScriptLogic, 60 percent of companies said they have no plans (at least for the next few years) to install Microsoft's upcoming and highly-anticipated Windows 7.
That's terrible news for Microsoft, which is still reeling from the dead-on-arrival Windows Vista and a general economic slump that caused the company to undergo its first ever layoffs earlier this year.
The survey polled 1,000-plus companies about their plans for the upgrade, which arrives in October, and found awfully sketchy support. Only 5.4 percent of those surveyed, for example, say they plan to upgrade by the end of 2009.
Why aren't companies rushing to Windows 7? Largely it comes down to money and the lack of employee talent and resources required to get such an upgrade rolled out. 42 percent cited these reasons for postponing or skipping Win 7 altogether.
Compatibility is another big issue for IT staffers, with 39 percent saying they're concerned that existing applications won't run on the new OS. (Though, truth be told, Microsoft is attempting to take great pains to make sure this isn't the case.)
All of this begs the question: If they're skipping Windows 7, what are these companies going to run instead? Vista has made only minimal inroads in corporate computing environments, so the venerable Windows XP is what Win 7-skippers are the most likely to continue to use. But obtaining new Windows XP licenses is getting increasingly difficult.
A bigger problem: Finding future hardware that is compatible with Windows XP, as many manufacturers already offer only a small set of computers for which XP drivers are available, a pool which is sure to continue to shrink over time. It's all part of the computer industry's game of goading you into upgrading eventually -- whether you want to or not -- and for companies that have already skipped Vista, that's a game that will increasingly end up in Microsoft's favor.
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2 Posted by magpagbst on Mon Jul 13, 2009 2:11PM EDT Report Abuse
i think most companies aren't going to take the windows 7 plunge initially . . . primarily due to the cost and existing general financial conditions . . . and . . . i think many will sit on the sidelines to see just how stable windows 7 will be . . . i'm sure the "vista effect" will have a lot to do with the latter . . .
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3 Posted by aa4mw on Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:56PM EDT Report Abuse
No surprise, our company looked at the hassles involved with going to Vista and took a good look at Unbuntu Linux. Now we only have one machine that runs Windows for the only two apps that absolutely won't run any other way - Adobe Acrobat 9 and Canon scanner driver. Ubuntu is not hassle free, but it is far less hassle than either Vista/Win 7 RC! for our business! Of course doing away with viruses and malware helps a LOT - Linux/Mac have NO viruses! MS talks "total cost, but when you include viruses and clean-up they are by far the worst solution!
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4 Posted by maclingman on Mon Jul 13, 2009 6:21PM EDT Report Abuse
I think people forget the real cost in upgrading isn't buying the computers, it's the massive of opportunity cost of lost productivity as companies with thousands of employees try to get everyone up to speed on the new software, which will only be made worse by the switch from Office 2003 to Office 2007. Personally, and I consider myself computer savy, I can deal with Word 2007, Powerpoint 2007 is probably easier and better than '03, but I hate Excel 2007 I feel completely stupid when using it, I can never get the graph to look the way I want or the function I need is nowhere to be found in the ribbon system, it's a mess. I think companies will put off the transition as long as possible due to these indirect costs
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5 Posted by rogueist on Mon Jul 13, 2009 6:58PM EDT Report Abuse
We have begun the switchover to MACs. VISTA seems to be stable enough now too, but only if we buy brand new hardware. So the choice is not just a software upgrade, but we have to buy hardware too. The price of a MAC versus the price of a similarly equipped PC - it is too close to call.
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1 Posted by aviasphere on Mon Jul 13, 2009 1:34PM EDT Report Abuse
Our company will be doing the Windows 7 installation. We skipped Vista entirely. I already have the upgrading and downtime mapped out. We are looking forward to this new operating system, all indications are it will be every bit as reliable as XP.