When it comes to dealing with several hundred computers at once, caution is a requirement. That's one of the many reasons behind planned upgrades and slow rollouts for new software in a business environment, where a myriad of factors have to be taken into account before a computer's operating system is wiped.
Three years after Vista's release, there are still many companies who are in the middle of lengthy upgrade procedures, with plenty having yet to begin. For those that have, it seems the release of Windows 7 has given them the motive to abandon Vista altogether, and that includes companies who are already in the middle of Vista upgrades. According to recent statements by a Microsoft exec, businesses have been switching from Vista to Windows 7 mid-stride.
The reasoning behind it may vary, but how it looks to the outside world doesn't. People (including businesses) were unhappy with Vista and are seeking to upgrade as fast as possible. A gamble? Perhaps. But a more important question might be Microsoft's reaction. They seem to be encouraging it, in a sense, or at least are helping companies wanting to do this. What about the monumental amount of cash already spilled out for Vista, however?
I imagine companies who took the risk of deploying Vista early on are feeling pretty burned right now, and may be reluctant to spend even more money on Windows 7. It doesn't seem to be stopping the majority, with an estimated 50% of corporate PCs expected to be running Windows 7 in the next year. That's an insanely fast adoption rate – the fastest ever predicted for a Microsoft OS.
Is all of that based upon hype, or has Microsoft really made a night and day difference (from a business perspective) in their software?