Lack of enthusiasm for Vista meant that Windows XP managed to outlast almost every prediction for how long it would stick around. But it looks like Windows 7 has well and truly turned that tide, with 94 per cent of new PCs now shipping running Windows 7 and 42 per cent of corporate desktops running the OS, according to research firm Gartner.
While that might sound like a low figure if you’re an early adopter who is already salivating for Windows 8, business adoption of new operating systems is always much slower. Planning to switch operating systems often takes a year or more and involves considering a stack of fairly complicated issues.
Microsoft is doubtless breathing a sigh of relief at the Windows 7 uptake, but the future still looks tricky. Gartner anticipates that the shift towards virtualisation and the widespread adoption of BYO device policies means that we might not see the same pattern of widespread migration again:
Gartner’s forecast assumes that Windows 7 is likely to be the last version of Microsoft OS that gets deployed to everybody through big corporatewide migration. In the future, many organizations will also use alternative client computing architectures for standard PCs with Windows OS, and move toward virtualization and cloud computing in the next five years.
Has your workplace moved to Windows 7 yet? Do you wish it had, or are you happy on XP? Tell us in the comments.
Gartner Says Windows 7 Will Be Running on 42 Percent of PCs in Use Worldwide By the End of 2011 [Gartner]
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