Microsoft'slower than expected second quarter resultsunderline the software giant's failure to convince business
users toupgrade to Windows Vista, according to
analyst Gartner.
Microsoft has been affected by poor sales of new PCs and lack of
interested among corporate users for its Vista operating system,
Gartner distinguished analyst Mark MacDonald said, "Most businesses
Gartner has spoken to will skip Windows Vista.
Windows
XP is a fine operating system."
He said the situation may change in 2010 for corporate IT, when
Microsoft replaces Vista with Windows 7. "Windows 7 is showing
early promise. Feedback from those people who have tried it has
been positive," said MacDonald.
In the long term, MacDonald said Microsoft will change the way
it develops new software to support a subscription-based, software
as a service model. "Microsoft is moving to cloud computing. I
expect users will be able to buy Microsoft SaaS products for MS
Exchange e-mail, SharePoint, and possibly even the Windows
operating system."
However, he said Windows is not designed in a way that makes it
possible for users to buy the operating system as a service that
can be upgraded via the internet. So, Windows as a service will not
be available in Windows 7, but MacDonald was confident that a
future release would be developed as a service.
He said such a service would make it easier for users to
upgrade. In effect, it would encourage them to take on the new
functionality as they would get it as part of their monthly or
annual subscription, which is the way SaaS products like
Salesforce.com work. Furthermore, a subscription SaaS for Windows
would also give Microsoft a recurring revenue stream.