Windows 7 Eliminates Need for Vista!

Implications: The release schedule for Windows 7 effectively means most enterprises will go directly from XP to 7.  Windows 7 appears to be Vista done right, with problems addressed and some nice functionality added.  If delivered as promised it should maintain Windows’ position in the market.

Analysis: The problems with Microsoft’s Windows Vista are well documented and appear to provide opportunities for Apple and Linux to make inroads into the enterprise desktop/laptop market.  Although Microsoft has vocally defended Vista both in terms of quality and market share, it appears they are actually paying attention to the feedback.  The original release schedule for Windows 7 was “2010”, which generally means sometime late in the year.  The current dates of RTM in November, 2009 with general availability in January, 2010, while technically meeting the letter of “release in 2010” is 9-12 months earlier than many people had expected.

Microsoft is notorious for slipping schedules on Windows projects, but the external pressure here suggests they will ensure this schedule doesn’t slip.  These dates are important because they are early enough that most enterprises can choose to skip Vista entirely and move from XP to 7.  General availability in January, 2010 means enterprises could start doing rollouts late in 2010, which is about the time XP will finally reach its “sell-by” date for enterprises. 

Enterprises usually want to wait until the SP1 version before rolling out Windows, however if the changes are minimal this may not be necessary.  Early information on 7 indicates it is based on the Windows Server 2008 kernel, which has generally been well received.  The hardware requirements for 7 are intended to be comparable to Vista, which will eliminate any hardware upgrade requirements.  Finally, 7 is intended to generally maintain compatibility with Vista software and drivers, which again eliminates a major delay for rollouts.

All of this suggests that 7 can be considered as Vista done right!  In many ways it is starting to look like the SP2 release of XP, which was the time when adoption of XP really took off.  Although Microsoft has been very defensive about Vista, it’s becoming clear that the Windows 7 development team has been listening to the complaints about Vista.

The touch-screen capability, as well as any other new features that may still appear, provide a nice benefit for switching to 7.  Particularly in the consumer market this will provide incentive for switching from XP or Vista to 7, although it probably won’t be compelling in the enterprise market for at least the first couple of years.  Vista has many good features and 7 appears to be providing all the good parts of Vista without much of the negative.  As such, it should reaffirm Windows’ dominant position in the enterprise.