Why enterprises will embrace Windows 7

Stan Beer
Tuesday, 14 April 2009 19:09

Business IT - Technology

Does that mean as many as 16% of enterprises plan to deploy Microsoft's new operating system in the first year of its release? If so what a great result for Microsoft and, based on previous experience, that probably means that it will be shifting the majority of enterprises to Windows 7 within three to five years.

Then of course, the same survey revealed that 50% of IT shops are seriously evaluating non-Windows options for their desktops. Yep, I guess if I was an IT manager in these cash strapped times, I would also be looking for cheaper alternatives or else I wouldn't be doing my job.

That said, the chasm between evaluation and adoption is enormous. Those who seriously believe that moving an enterprise from Windows to Linux on the desktop is going to be a cheaper exercise than upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7 are kidding themselves.

The most realistic and hence successful Linux company in the world today is Red Hat. It knows on which side its bread is buttered and that's the server side, where Linux rocks.

Like it or not, for most enterprises, there is simply too much Windows applications lock in to realistically make the change to Linux on the desktop. It can be done; it has been done (remember Ernie Ball) but the pain is more than most companies can afford.

What is likely to get people off Windows is when absolutely everything is in the cloud and it really doesn't matter which operating system you use. But that's still a few years away.

The fact is most PC users in the enterprise want Windows 7 to succeed. They're crying out for a good upgrade to XP and, based on the deliberately leaked beta versions, Windows 7 will probably deliver the goods this time.