intech@thestar.com.my

SINGAPORE: The day finally arrived. Windows 7 was being launched around the world and this, the latest PC operating system from Microsoft, was about to be received by fans and sceptics alike in this part of the globe.

In the Lion City where the Asia Pacific launch was held, many people had lined up all night until Thursday last week to be among the first in the region to own a commercial copy of Windows 7.

Representatives of the software giant at the launch were just as pumped up over the new product.

“We have come a long way since Windows Vista (the previously released operating system),” said director of corporate communications for Microsoft Asia Pacific Stephen Forshaw.

“Beta-testing feedback is fantastic and shows plenty of enthusiasm, especially from businesses.”

According to him, the projected adoption rates for Windows 7 have been surveyed to be even higher than those of its other predecessor, Windows XP, in both the short and long term.

Andrew Pickup, the business and marketing officer for Microsoft Asia Pacific, cited a study by ScriptLogic which concluded that 41% of companies in the region would migrate to Windows 7 within a year — more than double the first-year adoption rate of Windows XP (14%).

ScriptLogic is an IT services company that provides Windows systems and security management solutions to enterprises.

The technology publication ZDNet.com had a similar analysis, said Pickup.

“Having aggregated several studies, we found the consensus is that 50%-60% of Asia Pacific companies will migrate from XP or Vista over the next 12-18 months,” he said.

“Overall, we feel good about the prospects for Windows 7.”

The ZDNet.com blog posting (http://bit.ly/mrl6O) that Pickup referred to does support the expected record-breaking adoption of the new operating system.

However, in the same posting, the ZDNet columnist acknowledged that other predictive surveys have been less favourable.

The Reuters news service (http://bit.ly/Zn9LI), PC World magazine (http://bit.ly/FCs8O) and CNET News online (http://bit.ly/1JPPLO)have commented that most businesses will likely pass on upgrading to Windows 7 over the next few years, based on their industry surveys.

“For today’s jaded technical press and pundits, anything less than 100% adoption overnight is a colossal failure,” wrote ZDNet columnist Ed Bott in the blog, claiming that the news organisations failed to account for details that distorted their findings.

In any case, businesses will have no choice but to upgrade eventually because Microsoft has halted mainstream support for Windows XP Professional (the version for corporate users) since April. Also, extended support for XP is due to expire by 2014.

Businesses get a taste

Microsoft seeded copies of Windows 7 to interested businesses before the official launch to get an early indication of how the software will perform in various corporate environments.

Medco E&P Langsa Ltd, an Indonesian oil and gas company which has roughly 2,000 employees, upgraded from a largely Windows XP-based corporate network to a Windows 7 one, and the company is pleased with the change.

“Our employees give it (the new operating system) a high rating and we have significant cost savings already because the lower system requirements help boost the lifespan of our (leased) PCs,” said Ageng Wiryawan, its business relationship manager for information services.

CNN reported recently that many companies seem reluctant to shift to Windows 7 after some experienced a costly and problematic rollout of Windows Vista, when that operating system made its debut a couple of years ago, and had to revert to Windows XP.

With the world economy still stifled by the effects of the recent recession, chief technology officers simply cannot justify an operating system upgrade now, according to the reports.

Medco E&P Langsa, being into oil and gas, is obviously not cash strapped. It had no budgetary concerns about upgrading to Windows 7, and said it was money well spent.

“It cost us about US$50,000 (RM170,000) to make the switch but we have more than recovered our investment thanks to the resulting savings in operating costs and increased productivity,” said Wiryawan.

On the homefront

Judging from the turnout to get Windows 7 these past few days, it appears that many home PC users have a need for an operating system that bests Vista.

Corporate users need a better operating system than XP to upgrade to. And Microsoft needs Windows 7 to be a huge success, especially among corporate users.

Microsoft has seen its profits take a hit this year. According to its website, first quarter revenue is down 12% from the same period ending Sept 30.

But with the release of Windows 7, Exchange Server 2010 and Windows Server 2008 R2 this month, the company is optimistic about its financial future.

“We are very pleased with our performance this quarter and we are particularly encouraged by the strong consumer demand for Windows,” said Microsoft’s chief financial officer, Chris Liddell, on the company website.

It’s plain to see where that optimism comes from. Windows 7, the company’s new flagship product, already dominates store shelves as hardware manufacturers roll out their new PCs with the operating system pre-installed.

But others in Microsoft are still crossing their fingers. Among them is Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Windows 7 has attracted a record eight million beta testers, but that may not necessarily translate into a successful product. The next 12-18 months will be crucial for the software giant.

“The initial feedback (on Windows 7) has been good but so was the one for Vista,” said Ballmer in an interview that was reported on several websites earlier this month. “I am optimistic but the real proof is in the pudding (sic).”

(Editor’s note: To find out about the features in Windows 7, see In.Tech, Oct 20 or go online to http://bit.ly/1LYB7u and http://bit.ly/3fKltz.