By Tim Ferguson, 29 November 2007 10:44
NEWS
Microsoft is "feeling quite good" about the adoption of its Windows Vista operating system a year after it was released.
Despite recent suggestions Microsoft is struggling to convince businesses about Vista, the tech giant claims it has been the most rapidly adopted OS in history.
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Mike Haigh, UK Windows Product Marketing Manager told silicon.com: "We're feeling quite good about it. From a deployment perspective we're exactly where we expected to be."
According to Haigh, 88 million Vista licences (consumer and business versions combined) have been sold globally, with 100 million expected to be reached by the end of 2007.
And on uptake in the UK he said: "We're following a pattern that I think the rest of the world is taking."
Haigh said Vista has also played a major role in a 27 per cent increase in volume licensing agreements globally.
According to analysts, one of the major issues stopping businesses moving onto Vista is its lack of compatibility with applications and devices but Haigh said this is quickly becoming less of a problem.
He said around 2.2 million devices are now supported by Vista - with 700,000 added since its launch - and around 41,000 are supported by Windows updates.
He said: "We've made some major steps forwards."
And looking into the near future, Haigh suggested the healthy consumer uptake of Vista will further drive businesses to migrate, as workers demand the operating system in the workplace as well.
Comments
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1. Karen Challinor
of course microsoft are feeling good about sales of vista
pretty much every new pc sold has a vista license attached to it
therefore people are buying vista
the minor detail that they are wiping the OS and installing something else is irrellevant
now if they were telling us how they felt about vista usage when compared to vista sales, which would be a fairly trivial thing to find out as vista dials home to see if it's suddenly sprouted a peg leg, eye patch and goes "ARRRR" on a regular basis, then I suspect they might be a bit less happy
but they have the money for the initial sale and if people don't actually use the product after they've paid for it, well that eases the support burden cost too, so they are still happy really, I would be too
so quids in all round really
2. John H
"healthy consumer uptake of Vista will further drive businesses to migrate, as workers demand the operating system in the workplace as well."
Hmm. Maybe. But an awful lot of businesses have managed to resist any clamour from their employees to switch from W2K to XP.
Vista will succeed because it is Microsoft's current OS, and thus the world's new Default Setting. End of story.
3. Jason E.
When the same computer hardware runs faster and with more stability on the old OS (XP) than it does on the new one (Vista) you have a serious problem. I have been consulting to small and medium-sized business for two decades. Vista is going nowhere in this market - there is no desire to upgrade and outright hostility to the OS itself. This attitude extends to these buisness users home systems - they are buying their new home units with XP (or Mac).
4. Roger Huffadine
Mike Haigh has to say that about deployment or he will loose his job. If MS really are where they expected then they must be taking the same head in the sand approach to sales figures as they do to customer satisfaction ratings.
Trying to do anything more than use the defaults in Vista is just hideous, if you attempt a configuration that is simple in XP then Vista flatly refuses you access to the variable that you need - forcing you to use regedit to grub around in its bowls.
5. Matt Horwell
"healthy consumer uptake of Vista will further drive businesses to migrate, as workers demand the operating system in the workplace as well"
I loved Commodore Amiga Workbench, but I know what response I'd have if I demand that as my work OS!
Until they can truely justify the expense and ROI, then Vista will remain a 'must have' to the gadget brigade... until then, I'm happy(ish) with XP!
6. Graham Coles
So in the UK we are '.. following a pattern that they think the rest of the world is taking.'
So tell me, why are Microsoft happy that people are wiping Vista off the machines and reinstalling XP (or Linux) instead.
As the teachers in school used to say, the one person you can't fool is yourself. If Microsoft really can't see what's happening with Vista, they need a visit to the opticians and a new board of directors!
7. Nick Cole
Of course they are!
They wouldn't say anything else would they? After all that time and money spent on making something to replace what we already have that works reasonably fine.
It is just a pity that they don't put their considerable efforts into something that the customer wants rather than what they want to make.