One-third of enterprises will start company-wide
roll-outs ofWindows
Vistain 2008 as Microsoft begins to phase out
support forWindows XP, analyst firm Forrester has
predicted.
Many businesses have been reluctant to deploy the new operating
system until it has proved its stability and because of a relative
lack of compatible applications.
However, with mainstream support for Windows XP set to end on 14
April 2009, large businesses are likely to begin replacing it with
Windows Vista in 2008.
Benjamin Gray, an analyst at Forrester Research, said, "Many
will move to Windows Vista to avoid past mistakes, or simply
because they do not want to go down the path of supporting a system
that does not receive security patches on a regular basis."
Business users attempting to run Windows XP after April 2009 may
find it difficult to get support for third-party applications and
Microsoft's own products.
Forrester predicted that by mid 2008 Windows Vista will be
deployed across at least one-quarter of PCs in North American and
European businesses.
David Mitchell, principal analyst at Ovum, said, "2008 will be
the year Windows Vista goes mainstream." He said that businesses
refreshing their PCs this year will deploy the new hardware with
Windows Vista.
Migration from XP to Windows Vista will also be driven by
greater maturity of the operating system and increasing numbers of
Vista-certified applications.
The price of business PCs suitable for running Windows Vista has
also fallen, making it more affordable to deploy Vista now than in
2007.
Tube Lines is one company that is planning a major Windows
upgrade. The company, which manages the Jubilee, Northern, and
Piccadilly lines on the London Underground is planning to migrate
2500 users from Windows XP onto Windows Vista later this year.