intel predicts win7 launch will issue wave of pc upgrades

[saaya]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/other/d..._of_Intel.html

i dont really see why... with xp lifetime extended and vista offering the same features and security for businesses as win7, why should they upgrade to win7? and even if they do, why would they buy new hardware for it?

sounds more like wishful thinking to me...
what do you guys think?

[JumpingJack]

Most business passed on Vista, they skipped the refresh cycle.... http://www.techspot.com/news/33439-v...ion-rates.html

Perhaps Win 7 won't be the case, having played around with the RC, it does seem much better to me. Though I could not come up with a compelling reason why it should trigger a refresh. I.e. we have heard the same thing before (i.e. pre-Vista launch, all HW vendors were touting a surge) and it never happened.

[labs23]

Bold prediction, I don't see it happening that much on Intel's hardwares(or hardwares in general).
DX11 graphics cards, maybe, but they don't have that.
It might be their "newer" i5, and i7 they're thinking of, but why?

[Machinus]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/other/d..._of_Intel.html

i dont really see why... with xp lifetime extended and vista offering the same features and security for businesses as win7, why should they upgrade to win7? and even if they do, why would they buy new hardware for it?

sounds more like wishful thinking to me...
what do you guys think?

You have to upgrade eventually. Skipping 1 cycle is hard enough for most businesses. They have been waiting for windows 7 to get up to date with the rest of their software.

[gumballguy]

Well, businesses upgrade based on support cycles.

So when they get something new now, they'll go with win7 as
1) the pc assembler they buy their gear from will support it (unlike xp)
2) software companies have to follow (some of them ignore you if your OS doesnt suit their fickle fancies. Like some big name engineering programs)
3) why go with vista if xp isn't an option? And upgrade from vista? That's just more problems for your tech staff! Do it once.. once only. And yes, we are having issues with win7 vs vista its not a perfect switch..

And just to run win7 you need more ram etc.

I'd say its not an if, its a given.

Also I'm holding off, even though I could get vista + upgrade, coz I cbf I'll just get a 7 oem disc. But then I'm waiting for other things too not just an OS

[saaya]

You have to upgrade eventually. Skipping 1 cycle is hard enough for most businesses. They have been waiting for windows 7 to get up to date with the rest of their software.

hard enough? why is it hard for business to NOT upgrade? its hard for them to DO the upgrade...

Well, businesses upgrade based on support cycles.

So when they get something new now, they'll go with win7 as
1) the pc assembler they buy their gear from will support it (unlike xp)
2) software companies have to follow (some of them ignore you if your OS doesnt suit their fickle fancies. Like some big name engineering programs)
3) why go with vista if xp isn't an option? And upgrade from vista? That's just more problems for your tech staff! Do it once.. once only. And yes, we are having issues with win7 vs vista its not a perfect switch..

And just to run win7 you need more ram etc.

I'd say its not an if, its a given.

Also I'm holding off, even though I could get vista + upgrade, coz I cbf I'll just get a 7 oem disc. But then I'm waiting for other things too not just an OS

sure, but xps support cycle hasnt expired yet afaik, i thought it was delayed? so why would they upgrade at all, to vista or win7... what application requires win vista or 7 that businesses need? what new application only works on win7 or vista and doesnt work on xp?

[Chad Boga]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/other/d..._of_Intel.html

i dont really see why... with xp lifetime extended and vista offering the same features and security for businesses as win7, why should they upgrade to win7? and even if they do, why would they buy new hardware for it?

sounds more like wishful thinking to me...
what do you guys think?

I'm not going to be buying as soon as Win 7 comes out, but one thing I definitely did was decide that I would definitely NOT be buying until after Win 7 came out because I didn't want Vista with Win 7 being so close.

I have also told people who were thinking of upgrading this year to wait till Win 7 is out before doing so.

[randomizer]

I don't think so. No business upgrades just because they can. That's why Windows 2000 still exists in the corporate sector.

[Buckeye]

With the economy the way it is I don't see why any company would jump on the upgrade cycle unless they really have to baddly.

[XKaan]

I'm a system admin at a medium sized business, and we skipped Vista, simply becuase we use a lot of legacy apps that require XP. However, with an XP virtual machine integrated in Windows 7, it becomes more attractive. We are stuck in a spot where newer applications we require are Vista\Win7 optimized, although we still need to run XP. Win7 offers a solution to both problems.

Also, most users are not aware of the major advancements Vista\Win7 made for system admins like me. They have almost doubled the amount of group policy options, and made the operating system HAL independent. This means I can create an image on 1 single machine, no matter what hardware, and deploy it to any other hardware set in the company. This is a MAJOR time saver.

Also, don't forget the SSD situation. With Win7 comes TRIM support.

[Buckeye]

XKaan have you found running apps in Virtual XP on Win 7 to be satisfactory for your needs ?

I do not know very much about how all this works and I am sure I can get it to run better as I only really tried it one time for an old game just to see how it all worked.

With my system... a Core I7 965XE at 4.5ghz on SS Phase and the big Raid 0 of 224gb MTRON PRO's I found it to be rather slow running. Maybe I just set it up incorreclty.

[saaya]

newer apps require win7 and vista? like what?

and win7 xp virtual machine is seriously broken... forget about that...

yeah sure, win7 brings trim and some nice management options... but businesses already figured out how to manage their current oses and systems, why bother?
new is always more work, even if its better and more efficient, its new and you gotta get used to it first...

if they deploy new systems im sure the it admins will want win7 cause they wanna play around with it and check it out
but why would they move all systems to win7? what for?

ssd trim support? pfff yeah right, what corporate pc/laptop has an ssd...
better security? not really...

all that win7 and vista offer over xp is fancy flashy animations and lots of colors, a newer more complicated to use office suite... directx10 support for the latest games...
the latter 2 are probably the no1 reason why people might ask their it guys to upgrade hahaha
but that just doesnt make sense... you dont spend hundreds of man hours on upgrading so people have a flashy multi colored gui...

and even if you do, you certainly dont upgrad their pcs and laptops in the process and spend loads of money on that... for what?
will it improve productivity? of course not!

businesses will rather invest on more servers, faster internet bandwidth, maybe more storage, a second display or larger display and maybe a faster cpu or more system memory... those things all result in at least some productivity boosts... going from 2000 or xp to vista or win7 wont give you any boost... on the contrary, studies have shown that most office people are confused by all the new features and buttons and how things are organized, especially in office 2007...

[XKaan]

I understand your rationale, but if everyone thought the way you do then everyone would still be on Windows for Workgroups 3.11

Furthermore, 64-bit XP is completely useless. What about engineering firms and other companies that use resource intensive software? Should they stick with 32-bit XP, or should they use Vista\Win7 x64, which is actually a good step in the right direction as far as 64-bit OS goes and utilize huge amounts of RAM that those programs need. What about Photoshop? Photoshop CS4 64-bit runs MUCH faster than the 32-bit, especially when rendering HUGE files.

If you are thinking about the average office worker that is just using Word, then fine, stick with XP.

[mAJORD]

indeed.

we have been using x64 for a while now on one of our PCs due to solidworks. I'm sure 7 x64 would be a great upgrade.

There's lots of other examples where windows 7 will become useful also..

you HAVE to think outside the box a bit. I'm forced to use XP at work, but to be perfectly honest, I'd rather win7, even x86. I find it more efficent to use, and the seemingly trival features that it's brought (that vista DIDN'T!!) can be quite usefull in a business environment.
Yes I CAN work fairly unhindered on XP, but lets face it, you spend most of your life at work (unfortunately) and if it makes your life easier... . . .


it's like 2000 vs XP. one segment of our business uses 2000 still.. and it does the job!, but sometimes it would be nice to move to at least XP on those machines, for the same reasons as you'd move to win7 FROM XP

[keithlm]

Many companies delay upgrading until the first service pack is released.

[AMDDeathstar]

on the contrary, studies have shown that most office people are confused by all the new features and buttons and how things are organized,

Maybe that explains why the place I was working for is still using IE6 and WMP8.

[saaya]

I understand your rationale, but if everyone thought the way you do then everyone would still be on Windows for Workgroups 3.11

oh come on...

Furthermore, 64-bit XP is completely useless. What about engineering firms and other companies that use resource intensive software? Should they stick with 32-bit XP, or should they use Vista\Win7 x64, which is actually a good step in the right direction as far as 64-bit OS goes and utilize huge amounts of RAM that those programs need. What about Photoshop? Photoshop CS4 64-bit runs MUCH faster than the 32-bit, especially when rendering HUGE files.

If you are thinking about the average office worker that is just using Word, then fine, stick with XP.

well that IS what im saying... sure there are exceptions but 75% of office workers ARE doing just that... working with outlook, word, excel and maybe some other aps that run fine on 32bit and run fine on xp...

and i disagree that you get stuff done faster on vista than xp... on the contrary... the buggy windows explorer on vista that doesnt remember folder settings even after sp2, and constantly uses audio related default detail columns like genre title number and release year and 5star rating nonsense is a huge pita when your actually working with lots of files and browsing through folders... vista looks better and it has the search function integrated while xp requires you to install google desktop... is it worth paying double for a license and needing more system memory? not really...

now heres an interesting point... for those exceptions that do need more than xp 32bit... those are most likely on vista 64bit as we speak... what exactly is the motivation for them to move to windows7? a 2% performance boost? natively integrated nvidia badaboom gpu video transcoding? what else is there to windows7?

add to that most companies only have beta drivers for win7 out right now, if at all and i doubt any it department will welcome win7 with open arms to their companies IT family... sure the vista and beta win7 drivers might all work fine (afaik at least most do but some dont) but for a business thats not good enough... and with no out on the market experience with win7 im sure even the most enthusiastic IT staff will take a wait and see approach for now or set up a win7 demo system to play around with...

ok, now let me say this... you guys are right and there are many people out there who need more perf and features that xp 32bit just cant deliver... lets assume thats correct... then what makes you think those people have so slow pcs that they need an upgrade for windows7?
see!!! that was my hole point! even IF companies need win7, and most dont, why would they upgrade their hardware for it? especially if windows7 main feature is to be more efficient and require LESS memory and system resources and offer MORE performance with the same hardware?

get my point? so intels ceo is really praying to the companies and begging them to upgrade with his speech more than anything else...

Many companies delay upgrading until the first service pack is released.

well im sure ALL it staff KNOWS that win7 is vista SP3
so that shouldnt be a problem...

in stability terms id say win7 is actually vista SP1, the original release was beta and the previous service packs were RTM and RC

[vengance_01]

Our company is stuck on XP. Also really for what we do, XP Pro does just fine.

[XKaan]

I think you are missing what I am saying. I am NOT in any way saying I.T. departments the world over are rejoicing over the fact that win7 is coming, and I'm NOT saying they are going to have some big Win7 deployment orgy. All I am saying is Win7 is a huge improvement over Vista and I wouldn't be surprised if the adoption rate in companies exceeds expectations. Like it or not, things move forward.

Windows Server 2003 R2 is relatively stable and proven, so does that mean I shouldn't upgrade to Server 2008 and unitize virtualization that is integrated simply because Server 03 is getting the job done?

You can use Xp brother, I'm not coming to take it away from you!

[caffeine]

Intel is betting the farm on this. They have revised their 3rd, 4th and 1st quarter outlooks to the upside. I can't see what they are looking at to paint such a rosy picture. The consumer is tapped out, to whit a plethora of financial and macro economic datums.

Who'll upgrade?

Small to medium sized tech companies or companies that use the latest and greatest software... sure, they may upgrade. I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

Who will NOT upgrade?

Municipalities, Mega corporations, State agencies, schools and so on. Basically, the bulk of America (and the globe for that matter) is in batten down the hatch mode to weather this nasty economic storm.

[zalbard]

With the economy the way it is I don't see why any company would jump on the upgrade cycle unless they really have to baddly.

+1
MS isn't being realistic yet again. They said the same about Vista...

[saaya]

I think you are missing what I am saying. I am NOT in any way saying I.T. departments the world over are rejoicing over the fact that win7 is coming, and I'm NOT saying they are going to have some big Win7 deployment orgy. All I am saying is Win7 is a huge improvement over Vista and I wouldn't be surprised if the adoption rate in companies exceeds expectations. Like it or not, things move forward.

Windows Server 2003 R2 is relatively stable and proven, so does that mean I shouldn't upgrade to Server 2008 and unitize virtualization that is integrated simply because Server 03 is getting the job done?

You can use Xp brother, I'm not coming to take it away from you!

i never questioned that... what i do question is 1. how many companies actually upgrade, and 2. those that to upgrade wont buy new hardware... for what? if they do, theyd buy new hardware anyways cause they need it, but nobody is going to buy new hardware BECAUSE they upgrade to win7... thats basically what the intel ceo said...

which is imo a sign of not having the slightest clue of what hes talking about... nobody will upgrade because of windows7... people that DO upgrade hardware will of course want the latest and greatest os which is win7... but nobody is upgrading to win7 and THEN realizes they SHOULD or HAVE TO upgrade the hw as well...

win xp trigger such a hw upgrade wave, and vista was supposed to do the same but failed, and now he claims win7 will do it... its ridiculous...

Intel is betting the farm on this. They have revised their 3rd, 4th and 1st quarter outlooks to the upside. I can't see what they are looking at to paint such a rosy picture. The consumer is tapped out, to whit a plethora of financial and macro economic datums.

Who'll upgrade?

Small to medium sized tech companies or companies that use the latest and greatest software... sure, they may upgrade. I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

Who will NOT upgrade?

Municipalities, Mega corporations, State agencies, schools and so on. Basically, the bulk of America (and the globe for that matter) is in batten down the hatch mode to weather this nasty economic storm.

exactly... and even IF people go crazy over win7 and everybody wants it and upgrades... why in h3ll would they upgrade their pc hardware or buy a new laptop because of win7? what does win7 have to do with upgrading hardware? zero...

intel could as well have said the winter time is coming which means cold weather, and as a result... people will buy new hardware...

what? what does the one have to do with the other?

[Jamesrt2004]

many people I know will be like WOA win7 NEED NEW COMP THAT WILL RUN IT (even if theres will fine)

[[XC] leviathan18]

i never questioned that... what i do question is 1. how many companies actually upgrade, and 2. those that to upgrade wont buy new hardware... for what? if they do, theyd buy new hardware anyways cause they need it, but nobody is going to buy new hardware BECAUSE they upgrade to win7... thats basically what the intel ceo said...

which is imo a sign of not having the slightest clue of what hes talking about... nobody will upgrade because of windows7... people that DO upgrade hardware will of course want the latest and greatest os which is win7... but nobody is upgrading to win7 and THEN realizes they SHOULD or HAVE TO upgrade the hw as well...

win xp trigger such a hw upgrade wave, and vista was supposed to do the same but failed, and now he claims win7 will do it... its ridiculous...

exactly... and even IF people go crazy over win7 and everybody wants it and upgrades... why in h3ll would they upgrade their pc hardware or buy a new laptop because of win7? what does win7 have to do with upgrading hardware? zero...

intel could as well have said the winter time is coming which means cold weather, and as a result... people will buy new hardware...

what? what does the one have to do with the other?

problem is most people like 99% of the entire world buy a pre built system like dell or hp, so they go to best buy play around with the new dell studio desktop see windows 7 and says wow i want that, that is nice get the pc for 500$ and go home and throws his old pc to the trash.

[InSanCen]

problem is most people like 99% of the entire world buy a pre built system like dell or hp, so they go to best buy play around with the new dell studio desktop see windows 7 and says wow i want that, that is nice get the pc for 500$ and go home and throws his old pc to the trash.

This.

Previously working for the biggest UK retailer of PC's (Yeah, I hated it, and quit a while ago), this is exactly what happens. The sales people will of course encourage this frame of mind.

The percentage of people that upgrade their OS's on their systems is astonishingly small. 4-5% at a push. They don't know how to do it, and the majority of them don't want to know either.