Windows 7 will be Microsoft's most significant operating system
launch since Windows 95. Due to ship on 22 October 2009, the next
version of Windows will be crucial to Microsoft's future product
plans such as its Azure cloud computing strategy and Office
2010.
Microsoft lost credibility in the enterprise with Windows Vista
when users found a large proportion of business applications could
not run on Vista. Microsoft has tackled the compatibility problem
with a free extension to Windows 7 called XP Mode, which allows
users to run Windows XP applications on Windows 7.
"XP Mode opens up the possibility for those people who found
that one in five of their XP applications wouldn't run on Vista to
use Windows 7," says Clive Longbottom, service director at analyst
Quocirca.
Another advantage for enterprise users is that Windows 7 will
run with less memory and processing power than Vista. This means
that businesses will not need to upgrade desktop hardware to run
the new operating system. Since Microsoft has designed Windows 7 to
run on low-powered NetBooks, it should run on machines with less
that 1Gbytes of memory.
Windows XP migration
Al Gillen, program vice president for system software at IDC,
predicts that Windows 7 will experience more take-up from
businesses than Windows Vista, mainly because Windows XP is getting
old.
Windows XP is in the extended phase of its support lifecycle,
which means Microsoft will continue to patch security issues, but
will not improve the operating system.
"The fact that Windows XP is out of mainstream support is not
the thing that will drive customers off XP. It is more about
supporting new hardware devices," he says.
Microsoft will offer extended support for XP until 2015, but
hardware manufacturers will probably start winding down their
support from 2012. Gillen argues that users of XP may find it hard
to find device drive software for new hardware.
Cost cutting
Given that the recession is not going away any time soon, Roy
Illsey, senior research analyst at Butler Group, predicts that IT
directors and CIOs will only upgrade to Windows 7 if it helps them
cut costs. Microsoft will need to show IT chiefs that IT
departments can be run more efficiently and at lower cost, if the
business rolls out Windows 7.
Illsey has been looking at desktop virtualisation, which
promises to simplify the management of desktop PCs, by running
desktop applications and storing user data within the data
centre.
Businesses considering desktop virtualisation may well upgrade
their PCs to Windows 7, which is better suited to virtualisation
than Windows XP or Vista, he says.
"Microsoft is also offering easier management between Windows 7
desktops and Windows Server, which means less people are needed to
manage the desktop."
IT directors will need to justify a Windows 7 upgrade to the
business given the poor economic outlook. There do appear to be
business benefits. It may well be worth getting a team together to
evaluate the Windows 7 RC1 code and build a business case.