Microsoft received a lot of flak from numerous sources following the Vista launch. The biggest slap in the face didn't come from home users or enthusiasts, though, even if independent reviews were the most barbed. What really hurt Microsoft was the number of businesses, both small and large, that refused to upgrade to Vista. The pattern didn't change following compatibility updates and the service pack, and at the beginning of this year Vista was still showing poor adoption rates in the enterprise.
Is everybody waiting for Windows 7? Is Microsoft's full-steam development of the Vista successor going to be the answer to the adoption woes? Apparently not. At least one recent study shows that a significant number of businesses are not planning on upgrading to Windows 7. The figure is high, at an estimated of 83% of businesses planning not to upgrade - at least not right away, in the first year. That's understandable on the surface, with businesses wanting plenty of time to ensure application compatibility.
But how long will businesses delay the adoption of a new operating system? And could this mean big trouble for Redmond? Some companies reported they will wait upwards of three years before deploying Windows 7, sticking instead with Windows XP. Microsoft may be wanting to move on, but if large numbers of their customers don't, they could find themselves in a support predicament.