We don’t seem that far removed from the launch of Windows 7. That could be because it was much anticipated following the general disappointment that greeted Windows Vista, as well as because it really wasn’t all that long ago.
It’s almost time to open another Windows though, with word this week that Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) has released the Windows 8 OS to manufacturing. PCs should ship with the new OS in October, and corporate customers should have access through volume licensing later this month.
Cue the channel starting gun? Perhaps, but the VAR Guy is sounding a note of caution (or, rather, parsing a Microsoft executive’s comments as a note of caution) about how eager businesses will be to embrace Windows 8.
(Click to read “Microsoft Windows 8: One Statistic May Slow Business Upgrades”)
He’s got a point. Because many businesses decided to skip Windows Vista and stick with XP, the channel and the business world has been focused on upgrading from XP to 7 before Microsoft ended support for the now classic OS. Businesses still on XP may be interested in 8 (the tradition for corporate customers has been to wait for SP1, but they may want to leave XP sooner than that). But the business that did move to 7 likely won’t want to upset the applecart and begin the change process.