According to a recent study conducted by research firm Gartner, Microsoft upcoming launch of Windows Vista early next year will not have a major impact on personal computer sales as some had anticipated. While they attribute this to Vista's constant delays in part, they also mention that the PC market as a whole is not hot for this holidays season. Forecasts indicate however that 2006 will see a 10.5 percent increase in sales compared to 2005.
"While we think the [Vista] marketing campaign will attract people, we don't see enough there to attract a mass movement or a big growth spurt," said George Shiffler, a Gartner research director. "We don't think it will encourage enough people to replace [their PCs] right then and there."
On a more personal note, while I have been following the latest developments of Vista, I have to admit that enthusiasm has dried up a bit for me and I can perceive the same among the community. The fact that Vista was first touted as revolutionary, and now it seems nothing more than a revamped version of the same old Windows experience is certainly not going to do much in Microsoft's favor.
Finally, if you look at our latest user poll you will see that a wide majority of users have voted they won't be upgrading to Vista anytime soon, with only 10% willing to buy it inmediately, and another 10% saying they will likely get it bundled after buying a new PC.