From IT Wire:
A new survey of more than 40 blogs and 156 websites has found that the public is in no rush to upgrade to Windows Vista, with a clear majority in no plans to upgrade in 2007
The survey, conducted between January 4 and 10 by Internet market research group Vizu Answers, found that 59% of Windows users do not plan to upgrade to Vista in 2007.
The survey also found that Vista is perceived to be slightly more secure than previous editions of Windows, with 38% thinking it will provide better protection than previous editions of the operating system. However of those that were aware of the new security features, only 24% believe they will have a lasting effect.
Only 5% of the 2221 respondents to the survey plan on upgrading to Vista on their business or home machines. In contrast, 55% of respondents who plan on upgrading will not do so until they purchase a new computer.
Well, this is a little misleading. They are basing their research results on a sampling of 2221, and they don't mention who actually responded. How can they make such a definitive statement about the general public?? They can say for certain about the 2221 respondants. But extrapolating this to how many millions of Windows users?
My feeling is that Vista will be a BIG hit with businesses, and that ordinary consumers (not geeks like me) will in fact be slow to upgrade, especially since XP SP2 will be supported for the forseeable future. I count ordinary consumer as people like my parents who use their computer for email and games and surfing the Internet.
Yes, there is a bit of a hardware crunch, especially if you have an older computer, but you CAN run Vista without all the bells and whistles turned on. In fact, the OS is smart enough to know what capabilities your computer has and will not switch the cool features on if your system won't support them.
Bottom line: we have to wait and see how the general public responds to Vista, but already, businesses seem to be catching on: http://kaschimer.com/blogs/way2early4this/archive/2007/01/11/vista-s-business-sales-stronger-than-expected.aspx