IT consultants know that 90 percent of the personal computer market uses the Microsoft platform.  Thus, many are saying that the recent introduction of the new Widows Vista system will impact the industry greatly.  IT consultants are split on whether or not the impact will be good or bad, but its effects will not go unnoticed.  

During the first month after its release, Microsoft sold 20 million consumer copies of Windows Vista and doubled the sales of its last Windows XP launch in 2001.  Eleven weeks after its launch, popular interest has slowed.  

According to a market research study conducted by Harris Interactive, most Americans know about Vista; 87 percent are familiar with the product.  However, those aware of it do not necessarily intend to upgrade – 88 percent of those surveyed.  

IT consultants asked in Michigan stated that they believed less than 10 percent of Michigan-based businesses would move to Vista before 2008 and beyond.  Many larger companies are looking at the new system for upgraded security features, but are waiting for improvements to be made before buying.

According to IT consultants, nearly all businesses have spent a lot of time in the past few years patching issues and working on virus protection, wasting valuable time and money.  Still, they are skeptical that the new Vista, which has already cited many issues is ready for them to fully integrate into their businesses.  

IT consultants agree that other launches of Microsoft products expected this year will have more immediate effects than Vista, such as the release of Office 2007 and the SharePoint ad Exchange server upgrades.  The move to a new operating system for most companies will depend on the overall cost of the product and also its security fixes.  Many IT consultants feel that security with Vista is vastly improved and that the overall system performance in regards to system architecture, search functions, speed, reliability and visual appearance is also a huge step up from earlier operating systems.

While negative opinions of Vista have abounded, they are essentially not important, as Vista will be adopted no matter what in time.  By January, computer manufacturers will stop shipping products related to XP or earlier operating systems completely on Microsoft’s orders.  

For more information on this story for IT consultants and other Microsoft users, visit the attached link.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg