Eye on Microsoft
About this Blog:
This is Shane O'Neill's blog about Microsoft's corporate strategy and its various software and services — the good, the bad and the ugly.
Windows XP: C'mon Consumers, Let It Die
Survey data from Forrester points to Windows 7 satisfaction, but still a reluctance to move off Windows XP. What the what?!?
At this point, you don't need a survey to tell you that Windows 7 has been a success.
But it's always nice to have hard data. Thanks to Forrester Research, we've got a new Windows 7 survey — two, actually: one that covers Windows 7 upgrade satisfaction among early adopter consumers, and another about how the Windows 7 launch has improved perceptions about the Windows brand. Yet, a surprising (and in my opinion foolish) loyalty for Windows XP still persists. More on that in a bit.
Overall, Windows 7 early adoption is as positive as the PC sales and thumbs-up reviews would indicate. In late December, Forrester surveyed 4,500 online consumers to measure Windows 7 expectations and upgrade plans for the two months after the October release. Eighty-six percent of the 490 survey respondents who are running Windows 7 are satisfied with the computer overall, compared with 74 percent of users of all versions of Windows.
[ For complete coverage on Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system -- including hands-on reviews, video tutorials and advice on enterprise rollouts -- see CIO.com's Windows 7 Bible. ]
For the first time in any Windows release, according to the Forrester data, this version of Windows was upgraded on older PCs almost as much as it came loaded on newly purchased PCs.
The main reason for this, writes report auther JP Gownder, is that Windows 7 is a thinner client OS and runs much better on older hardware than its resource-hog predecessor, Vista.
In a blog post, Gownder expands on this point.
"The rise of netbooks, the physical assets of multi-PC households, and an attachment by many consumers to their Windows XP machines all contributed to the need for a sleeker, thinner Windows OS, which Windows 7 delivered."
As for this "attachment" to Windows XP machines, which comes to light in the second Forrester survey, I must channel John McEnroe and scream, "You Cannot Be Serious!!"
Too many XP users can't break free from the past. Lord knows your company will keep you on old technology as long as it can, but you shouldn't do it to yourself. If it's a money issue, I hear you brother. But these days too much of your life is in your laptop to waste time with a clunker from a bygone era.
Slideshow: Seven Features in Windows 7 You Probably Don't Know About
Slideshow: Windows 7 in Pictures: The Coolest New Hardware
Slideshow: Seven Tools to Ease Your Windows 7 Rollout
Slideshow: Fighting the Dark Side: Tech's Heroes and Villains
Yet a significant XP allegiance hangs around despite increased Windows 7 awareness. Ninety percent of the total respondents report that they had heard of Windows 7 before this survey, with 44 of those people saying they've heard that Windows 7 works well and 29 percent saying they believe that Windows 7 would make their PCs simpler and easier to use.
However, "being aware" of Windows 7, or even excited about it, is not the same as "ready to pay money to use it." Only 10 percent said they intend to buy or upgrade in the next six months. The popular notion may be that Macs are Windows 7's biggest competitor, but the bigger threat is definitely Windows XP — aka the operating system that won't die.
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