Forrester Research wrote a very interesting piece that Computerworld commented on in an article at the end of April that I missed.
Vista ‘inevitable’ for enterprises, says Forrester analyst
XP’s being retired, Windows 7 is mostly rumor; Vista only viable choice…"Vista is an inevitability, for a number of reasons," said Ben Gray, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. He then ticked off several, including Windows XP’s announced retirement and unsubstantiated talk about Vista’s successor, Windows 7.…
…It will become more difficult to stick with Windows XP when top-tier computer makers pull it off their operating system lists on June 30, the date Microsoft has mandated that manufacturers stop offering it on new PCs. The company will also yank XP from retail sales then.
And companies considering skipping Vista altogether by migrating from XP straight to Windows 7, may be punished, Gray added.
"To be blunt, customers know very little about Windows 7," he said, noting that with the exception of a few facts — the Vista successor will come in both consumer and business editions and versions for both 32- and 64-bit machines — "everything else is pure rumor and speculation."
Microsoft’s poor track record on making release dates and crafting operating systems without discarding major features should make corporate decision-makers take pause, Gray said. "Ironically, one of Microsoft’s biggest weaknesses, the unpredictable release schedule of its desktop operating systems, will likely spur adoption of Windows Vista as a result of this lack of faith in Microsoft delivering Windows 7 on time," he said.…
Kurt Shintaku's Blog 