Migration to Windows Vista likely to be slow

ServiceWorld Computer Center Inc. owner Doug Pitt said his corporate clients would adopt a wait-and-see attitude about Vista, slated for release in two waves.

“They’re all afraid of getting burned, and they’re expecting there to be bugs,” Pitt said. “I understand the caution, and honestly, I can’t say that’s not a bad play.”

However, at least one of Pitt’s clients, Carnahan-White Inc., may take the leap sooner. General Manager Roger Piper said they’re considering upgrading 21 computers as soon as January.

“Our goal is, of course, to keep up with technology,” Piper said. “As (we) fall behind, it can cost us greatly.”

Piper said he’s excited about Vista’s enhanced file-search tools and security upgrades.

The price of technology

Cost is one of several hurdles businesses may face in upgrading to Vista from Windows XP or another operating system.

Licensed copies of Vista Business and Vista Ultimate editions range from $179 to $399, according to Microsoft’s marketing firm, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide.

However, costs may not stop there. Hardware upgrades may be needed as well. To run Vista effectively, computers should have a one-gigahertz processor, one gigabyte of system memory and at least 128 megabytes of graphics memory.

“You’ve got to have some serious horsepower,” said Jeff Clinkingbeard, president of Software Central & Premium Computer Systems.

Clinkingbeard predicts his business clients will upgrade through attrition of buying new computers with Vista preinstalled.

“This is something that will stretch out at least two years,” added Pitt, who said about 20 percent of his clients have proprietary software that wouldn’t allow a Vista upgrade right away anyway.

Piper said Carnahan-White is well positioned for an upgrade. He doesn’t foresee software compatibility problems, and the company bought new computers when it moved in May 2005 to its facility on State Highway MM.

Market leader

Vista is slated to be available through business volume licensing agreements this month and for consumers in January, according to a Microsoft news release.

Mike Shirer, public relations manager for market research firm IDC, said 554 million computers – 94 percent of the planet’s computers – run Microsoft operating systems.

Given that, it seems that Vista should make a huge impact on the business world. Not so, says Shirer’s IDC colleague, Al Gillen, research vice president of systems software.

Gillen said Vista shouldn’t impact Microsoft’s market share or its $44 billion in annual revenues positively or negatively. It’s simply a needed evolution.

“It solves technology problems that customers are facing,” Gillen said. “If (Microsoft) failed to release a new operating system, their market share probably over time would begin to erode.”