February 6th, 2008
Vista SP1 revisited
I posted a survey earlier this week asking people about their Vista migrations. I wanted to take a few moments to comment on the results (with all the usual caveats about unscientific research, selection bias, etc.). It’s still worth noting that 50% of the respondents were not planning to migrate to Windows Vista and were, in fact, purchasing downgrade licenses on new hardware to maintain Windows XP. These folks are willing to keep using a deprecated OS requiring significant anti-malware software maintenance. Why? Obviously business applications and specific legacy apps are a huge part of the equation and in many cases, the old saying of “if it ain’t broke” certainly applies.
However, for most general computing and even a variety of scientific/educational computing, there are too many good alternatives to bother with a 7-year-old OS. 25% of the respondents reported already moving to Vista, while another 17% reported supporting a mixed environment, including Vista as needed. One piece that my survey didn’t capture was the subgroup who had never used Windows, so didn’t need to consider an alternative; 9%, though, were planning to move to a non-Windows OS for new hardware purchases instead of Vista, even though they had used Windows XP in the past.
As several readers pointed out, most of us have volume XP licenses that can easily be virtualized on either Mac or Linux machines, allowing the maintenance of legacy applications and gradual transitions for employees. While some users and groups have been very satisfied with Windows Vista, that is certainly not a universal phenomenon. So here’s another question for those people sticking with Windows XP (even on new hardware for the foreseeable future):
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Follow Chris Dawson on Twitter! Christopher Dawson is the technology director for the Athol-Royalston School District in northern Massachusetts and a member of the Internet Press Guild. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations, but always keep in mind that the opinions expressed here are his own and not those of his daytime employer, even if he talks incessantly about his day job.
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