Will Windows 7 convince us to upgrade?

November 2009

The next generation of Windows arrived with us last month and looking at the decision to stay put or upgrade to 7; I think whether or not you went to Vista, that 7 is a good place to be. Start planning and get all you apps tested and remediated, then roll it out. It’s going to be easier to support, so you’ll end up with a supportable platform for the foreseeable future.

While taking a look at how enterprises will plan, deploy and use 7 I considered XP Mode which I think is going to disappoint many organisations because unless they happened to choose VT capable systems last refresh or are refreshing and carefully select the PC hardware they’ll be stuck without full support for VT which is a requirement.

It is maddening when you look at what’s required for proper support. You may have a processor that supports it but no BIOS options to turn it on because the PC vendor decided they didn’t need to support this useful technology (we’re talking mainstream hardware here). Even when refreshing you have to be really careful that the hardware you trial is what will be shipped on bulk order, selecting a slightly different processor or BIOS could leave you with no VT. So you get past that hurdle, next make sure that all the PCs have enough RAM to run two operating systems. That’s before I get on to what about endpoint security and systems management for two operating environments, where do I stop?

What I have been impressed by is the quality of the tools that are now on offer to help you plan deploy and manage, here is a selection I would recommend.

Application Compatibility Toolkit
Assessment and Planning Toolkit
Deployment Servicing and Image Management
Desktop Optimisation Pack

The cynic in me can’t help but feel it’s about time another cycle in the industry came and turned things upside down again. Anyone remember when IBM was top dog? Just lately there seems to have been a lot of change for change’s sake all in the name of efficiency. I’ve been reading with interest the progress with Google building Chrome OS as a rival operating system platform and I guess they’re infectious nature means we will have to take a look and so I wonder, will they reach critical mass before we ever see Windows 8?

My answer – No.

Paul Squires – Head of Technical Consultancy – Itica Consulting – November 2009

Paul.Squires@itica.co.uk

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