The third and last CDW Windows Vista Tracking Poll, performed by Walker Information, shows that Windows Vista is getting some take-up. The number of organisations "evaluating and testing" Vista has increased from 29% in February 2007 to 48%, and "30% of organizations are currently implementing or have implemented Vista," against 12% last time. Of those using or evaluating, 74% expect to complete the move to Vista during the next 12 months.
CDW also says: "Windows Vista is delivering on expected benefits, with nearly 50% of evaluators/implementers reporting performance above expectations on key features." Of course, we don't know what they were expecting. If they've been reading the hate on the web, they might be surprised to discover that the world's second most popular operating system is extremely stable and works well.
The survey also turned up a strong move to Office 2007, with 24% having upgraded already and another 23% planning to upgrade.
CDW is a US-based Fortune 500 supplier of computer equipment and services, and the survey was conducted at the start of November. The sample size was 772 "IT decision makers" including small and large businesses, state and local government, and K-12 and higher education. The margin for error is +/- 3.5% at a 95% level of confidence. Given three surveys conducted in the same way (Waves 1-3), the trends should be pretty robust.
CDW has posted a press release for the third Vista survey: Halfway Home: CDW Tracking Poll Shows Windows Vista Gaining Traction in the Mainstream Business Market.
Meanwhile at ZD Net blogs, Mary Jo Foley has posted a summary of the state of play ot the next version, Counting to (Windows) 7. As she says:
First off, Microsoft officially is refusing to say anything at all about Windows 7. They aren't confirming, aren't denying. They just aren't talking about it. Period. They want to talk about Windows Vista and -- to a much lesser extent -- Vista Service Pack (SP) 1.
Quite what will be in Windows 7 is anyone's guess. Vista changed a lot of XP's subsystems, so Microsoft isn't going to change them again. The kernel will be basically the same as Server 2008. Microsoft can add a few features off the Windows wish-list, as described at Ars Technica, but none of those are biggies.
So the obvious thing to do is to spruce up the user interface and speed up or remove some of the animations supplied as standard (they'll still be there for those who want them, and yes, you can already turn them off). The animations mean Vista will always be "slower" on automated tests that basically open and close windows, while telling you nothing useful about the actual operating system.
It just needs to have enough of a not Vista appearance so that the not Vista people can adopt it, without actually downgrading the kernel, the usability or the security to the level of XP. Not that it makes that much difference to Microsoft. Companies on its Software Assurance scheme have already paid for Vista, and will pay for Windows 7, whether they use it or not, while OEMs want to sell the new stuff because that's how they make more money.
