Survey: Windows Vista adoption weakens as IT pros eye Apple Macintosh

"A KACE-sponsored survey on Windows Vista adoption represents more bad news for Microsoft's flagship operating system, even as Microsoft prepares to pour an estimated $300 million into a new Vista marketing campaign--news that was announced at Microsoft's 2008 Worldwide Partner Conference," Kurt Mackie reports for Campus Technology.

"The survey polled 1,162 IT professionals in June and was conducted by King Research for KACE, which makes a hardware-based systems management product for IT administrators," Mackie reports.

"This survey found a slip in Windows Vista deployment plans, with 60 percent of respondents saying that they had "no plans to deploy Vista at this time," compared with 53 percent in the 2007 survey," Mackie reports.

"42 percent said they were considering alternative operating systems to Windows Vista. The Macintosh operating system was the favored alternative by 29 percent of respondents. Linux-based operating systems were also in the running, but trailed," Mackie reports.

"Rob Meinhardt, cofounder and CEO of KACE, believes that IT is moving more toward managing a heterogeneous desktop environment, even to the point of giving employees their choice of computer to use," Mackie reports. "KACE is a case in point, since about 50 percent of its computers are Macs, Meinhardt explained."



Full article here.



The full results of KACE's June 2008 survey are here