Trend Report

Corporate Desktop Operating System Trends, Q4 2007 Through Q2 2008

Windows Vista Deployments Are Finally Ramping Up, While Mac Continues Its Slow March On The Enterprise

Benjamin Gray
 and  three contributors
Aug 22, 2008

Summary

IT operations professionals need to prepare for a more decisive shift in their desktop operating system (OS) strategy. Why now? Because Microsoft released Windows Vista to the general public more than 18 months ago — which is typically how long IT departments need to test their applications and hardware against any new OS. Forrester's month-on-month study of more than 50,000 of our clients' OS preferences confirmed that users are on track with enterprises' initial Windows Vista deployment plans. IT operations folks are at a critical inflection point and should deploy Windows Vista to: 1) stay current with Microsoft's and independent software vendors' (ISVs') support life cycles; 2) help minimize today's security, management, and productivity challenges; and 3) better position your business to eventually embrace "Windows 7," because Windows Vista investments will ultimately pay off with better compatibility for this next release. Our study also revealed interesting insight into Mac and Linux penetration, where desktop managers are painting a rosy future for Apple on the corporate desktop, but less so for Linux.

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