Vista Launches...Again
Question: When is an OS launch not an OS launch? Answer: When the retail launch
of Microsoft Windows Vista occurs a full two months after code had shipped to
volume license customers.
That detail didn't prevent Microsoft from pulling out the stops in New York
City on Monday, as it unveiled the long-awaited client operating system to the
public. Redmond Channel Partner Editor in Chief Scott Bekker was in New York
and describes
the "orchestrated hoopla," including billboards sporting Vista
and Office logos and staged live outdoor events. Further afield, Bekker writes
that Microsoft "held a beach festival in Brazil, fireworks at the Eiffel
Tower in Paris and arranged for ice sculpture displays in Sweden and Canada."
For development managers, the real question is how long it will take for Vista
-- and its underlying foundation technologies in Windows Presentation Foundation,
Windows Communication Foundation and Windows Workflow -- to reach critical mass.
While new consumer PC shipments are switching to Vista right away, IDC Research
Vice President Al Gillen told Bekker that enterprises will take their time.
He expects many corporate IT departments to exercise downgrade right options
on their Vista-ready contracts and load Windows XP on new systems instead. Gillen
says it will be 2008 before new systems sales of Vista outpace those of Windows
XP.
What is your company planning to do with Vista? Is a migration to the new OS
in the works, and are your development plans changing to meet Vista? If your
decision is to wait, tell us why! E-mail me at [email protected].
Posted by Michael Desmond on 01/31/2007