Should we wait for the Next OS from Microsoft and skip Vista?

Implications: 1.  Microsoft is planning another operating system in a few years, so why upgrade. 2.  Microsoft seems to have lost the operating system was on mobile devices to Apple

Analysis:      This year looks like a recession year in the US.  Why not stay with Windows XP, drop you EA agreement, and wait for the next operating system?  This would save you a lot of money in the IT budget and also eliminate the training costs for the business to switch to a new OS.  Not a bad strategy in a year where budgets will be tight.

      I have so many people asking for iPhones that I will have to support them.  And I have figured out how to sync the email to exchange.   Not as elegant as Blackberry or Microsoft, but good enough.

     So what happened to Microsoft as the king of the operating system?  I really enjoyed this article for several reasons.  First, I am glad to hear that there is innovation happening at Microsoft and a willingness to abandon much of their legacy code.  Second, when I read this article I finally understood why I was no longer in a rush to upgrade to Vista.  And lastly, this article helped me to understand the difficulty Microsoft must have in keeping their legacy code and compatibility with their mobile platform.

     Granted that Vista is a better than XP and a more secure operating system.  But it is still just a better version and a new interface put on top of windows 2000.  I think technology has matured to a point that real savings and value needs exist before there is value to an upgrade.  Vista did not pass that bar from my perspective.

     The innovation that I am more happy with in the the new office and Sharepoint.  But this runs fine on XP, so it is less of a hassle to upgrade just office.

     What is also interesting is that Apple has managed to leverage their base operating system on both their phone and PC (macintosh line).  I think this in part because Apple has already migrated from the Mac OS to Tiger (and now Leopard).   

     Microsoft's Surface initiative seems to offer the same opportunity for Microsoft that Tiger offered for Apple.  The challenge is that Microsoft has a much more difficult transition because of it success in enterprize integration.

     This is an interesting time for CIO's.  We have a chance to slow our upgrade to the next release of Windows at a time when costs matter in the enterprize.  The opportunity for the CIO is to highlight this choice in a way that makes the CIO be perceived as a business driven executive.  I would much rather slow my upgrade to Vista than reduce other spending that could directly reduce business operating costs.  I cenrtainly would cut the Vista upgrade costs before I would reduce staff.