Business market cresting on Vista adoption curve

Almost half of 772 surveyed organisations are evaluating or testing Vista

A new study on Vista adoption shows that the year-old Microsoft operating system may be finding a groove with business users even though more than 50% said they are not testing or evaluating the software.

In a survey conducted by Walker Information on behalf of IT product supplier CDW, 48% of the 772 responding organizations said they were either evaluating or testing Windows Vista. That number is up 65% from the same survey done in February 2007, when 29% percent of respondents said they were either evaluating or testing the operating system. In the October 2006 edition of the same study, only 12% said they were that far along with Vista.

CDW conducted the three-phase survey to track the adoption of Vista by corporate users.

The latest phase of the survey also found that 30% of organizations are currently implementing or have implemented Vista.

Microsoft is getting ready to release the first service pack for Vista, which is traditionally a gateway to increased corporate interest in a new Windows operating system.

In the CDW survey, 51% of respondents said the expectation of bugs in the first release was a top concern in considering Vista.

As users are adopting the software, they are also reporting favorable reviews. Nearly 50% say performance of key features has been above their expectations.

In addition, 24% say they have implemented Office 2007, which is up from 6% in the February survey.

In the Vista survey, 55% of those evaluating or testing the software expected to complete their migrations over the next 12 to 18 months. Only 13% said they had already completed the migration, but that was up from 6% in the February survey. In addition, 35% of those evaluating or testing are in some stage of migration, while 88% are starting or have begun testing and evaluation.

The survey also showed 58% of respondents gave Vista a very favorable or somewhat favorable review. But that number was down from 60% in the February survey and 70% in the October survey. On the flip side, a review of somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable was up to 22% as compared with 18% in February and 9% in October.

CDW, however, concluded that perception of the product is stabilizing in the market with 20% reporting neither a favorable nor unfavorable review, down from 21% in both the February and October reviews.

Improved security was still the biggest perceived benefit, even though it was down to 65% from a high of 78% in February. Other cited benefits included improved performance, productivity, search/organization, Windows Update, networking features and patch management.

More than half (56%) said they were not buying other hardware and software as part of the Vista upgrade.

Join the newsletter!

Or

Sign up to gain exclusive access to email subscriptions, event invitations, competitions, giveaways, and much more.

Membership is free, and your security and privacy remain protected. View our privacy policy before signing up.

Error: Please check your email address.
Keep up with the latest tech news, reviews and previews by subscribing to the Good Gear Guide newsletter.

John Fontana

Network World
Show Comments

Most Popular Reviews

Latest Articles

Resources

PCW Evaluation Team

Cate Bacon

Aruba Instant On AP11D

The strength of the Aruba Instant On AP11D is that the design and feature set support the modern, flexible, and mobile way of working.

Dr Prabigya Shiwakoti

Aruba Instant On AP11D

Aruba backs the AP11D up with a two-year warranty and 24/7 phone support.

Tom Pope

Dynabook Portégé X30L-G

Ultimately this laptop has achieved everything I would hope for in a laptop for work, while fitting that into a form factor and weight that is remarkable.

Tom Sellers

MSI P65

This smart laptop was enjoyable to use and great to work on – creating content was super simple.

Lolita Wang

MSI GT76

It really doesn’t get more “gaming laptop” than this.

Featured Content

Product Launch Showcase

Don’t have an account? Sign up here

Don't have an account? Sign up now

Forgot password?