Reports: Intel to skip Vista upgrade
For any given release of Windows, there are companies that choose to skip it. But when the company is Intel, it's a big deal.
Following a report Monday on the Inquirer, the New York Times reported Wednesday that Intel's IT department "found no compelling case" for upgrading. Ouch.
And that's despite the fact that it's been nearly seven years since XP debuted. It's not a good thing, if your customers are electing to stick with 7-year-old technology. (In fairness, XP did get a fairly big update with Windows XP Service Pack 2, but even that is four years old at this point.)
Microsoft, which once predicted businesses would adopt Vista at twice the rate they moved to XP, has scaled back its ambitions and these days talks a lot about how long the adoption curve is for businesses when it comes to new operating systems.





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I would guess that Vista only covers the last one. If Vista were to have better backwards compatibility with Windows 2000 and DOS, it might be worth the upgrade.
One thing corporate IT departments should be thinking about is "Upgrading in place." Back up all the critical user data on every computer, format each drive, and install a fresh copy of XP. This would probably give a far larger boost to performance and reliability.
What is a "Streaming Application Framework"? Imagine a platform which can be defined like the ease of HTML, married to the definable data heirarchy of XML and backed by the power of Microsoft's developer tools (the true value behind Microsoft - not their apps). All this is currently evolving on the internet BUT we have not taken this to the OS; only to the browser.
Instead Vista exploited the legacy code (pushing demands on hardware to new highs) and put down some key infrastructure to allow them to make(test) the next step. As IT managers realize this - they understand it is a smart choice to wait for the next OS - as the performance will be much more noticable (better processors and richer thin clients) - which will lead to considerable app development/advancements. From vector to data mining, the new OS will set itself apart leading into features that are unreachable in the current methods.
Of course, Microsoft can muck a release just like the rest of them - but I bet that beast will not go down without one heck of fight. We are not talking about a couple hundred devs - and I will assume they have the vision to pull it off.
"Yeah, so I waited 5 years for this and it s**ks, but just you wait! In 5 more years the next version will blow your mind!".
Lather, rinse and repeat.
Good for Intel that they skip it. Maybe even some of the "promised" Vista elements like WinFS and proper EFI support will appear in Windows 7...
By the time W7 comes out (!??) people will be desperate for a modern OS for their aging PCS.
This is the problem with monopolies that too many of us rely on. What if Windows 7 stinks!!?
Oh, and go back to the drawing board on Aero. It was a freakin' disaster.
To the poster that recommended an "upgrade in place", that is in fact the most intelligent recommendation yet and speaks to a bigger, less understood problem with Microsoft operating systems.....degrading performance over time because of their pathetic internal housekeeping. This I believe is the single largest reason for most new system purchases.
Considering the flack MSFT took (internally and externally) for saying that the 945 chipset was suitable for Aero, this is jab in the back - not that one can't expect these things, but I expect at joint meetings the only thing that'll be warm above the management level will be the coffee.
In any case, I don't see the lower number of upgrades as a problem for MSFT. They have already made an unbelievable amount of $ on VISTA. I see this as typical. Corps aren't keen to upgrade desktop OS anymore. The ones they got already do what they need to. The server-side is where the action is, Windows Server, Exchange, Sharepoint, and MSSQL.
Microsoft has one more chance with Windows 7, but if you read early reports, it's simply Vista with a few improvements. We are witnessing the fall of an empire, folks.
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by pactrol
June 26, 2008 8:53 AM PDT
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See all 50 Comments >>Why is Microsoft supprized by this ? Vista has no Backward compatibility
in industry ther are still dos applications working merrily away Xp can run dos
Vista can,t so what good is that to industry when theres no compatibility with
existing software. & I used to think MS were smart, not dumb & dumber,