Its cool. I love it. I hate it. Its just a GUI overhaulthese are some of
the reactions from Windows 7 users and going by the initial reactions in India,
Microsofts newest OS seems to have gone well so far. Anything Microsoft does is
critically thread-bared and Windows 7 is no exception. Windows 7 without a doubt
is a new age OS and right from Beta to RTM, Microsoft has kept the OS interest
at a high decibel.
While India specific consumer adoption figures are not available, however
according to Microsoft sources around 5,000 enterprises in India have adopted
Windows 7 and given that its just about six months post the official launch,
the numbers look indeed encouraging. Most of the enterprises which had taken the
plunge has derived a whole lot of benefits. Says Sumeet Khanna, director,
Windows client business group, Microsoft India, Since the launch 5,000 Indian
enterprises have adopted Windows 7; and 60% of the deployments were large
enterprises and SMBs constitute the remaining 40%.
Adoption Dynamics
Any version updates come with its advantages and limitations. When we look
at Microsoft Vista, there the transition from XP to Vista was not that smooth,
because Vista upgrades called for some big hardware changes, that many saw as a
big limitation in migrating to Vista at that time. But in a very intelligent
strategy for Windows 7, Microsoft kept the hardware requirements to the current
industry standard PC configurations and fixed some of the teething issues in
Vistain areas like system response, seamless multi-tasking and overall simple
and clutter free user interface. Yet another significant area that gave Windows
7 a good start relates to device drivers. In most instances PCs running Vista
and XP ran Windows 7 and there were no significant hardware compatibility
issues. Moreover for XP users, Microsoft made provisions to run Windows XP
productivity programs in Windows XP mode. Microsoft also forged closer ties with
ISVs to improve its apps compatibility on Windows 7 and made a conscious
decision that glitches are kept to the minimum when enterprises migrate their
pre-existing older applications to Windows 7. According to Khanna, By the end
of 2010 our goal is to reach 30,000 enterprises deployments for Windows 7.
Indeed a lofty goal, but Khanna firmly believes that the company will reach
that milestone given the pace at which the OS is growing in India. There are two
kinds of adoptions happening for Windows 7. One, large enterprises are migrating
and secondly, given the productivity improvements in SMBs, all new PC purchases
are inclined towards Windows 7.
Early Adopters
If we look at some of the large deployments, companies like Wipro which has
adopted Windows 7 in a big way, expect desktop management efficiency gains of
20%. Microsoft sources say that early users of Windows 7 have found the user
interface design to be much improved and easier to use. Logging on to the
corporate network from remote locations is much faster due to features like VPN
Reconnect, which automates recovery from virtual private network connection
failures. Meanwhile another major enterprise feature that has gone well with
users is the search feature in Windows 7, that is far better than its previous
Windows editions.
Yet another significant area according to Microsoft in Windows 7 is security.
For instance, Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) leveraged the OS BitLocker
effectively for security management. BIAL is successfully using the BitLocker
drive encryption to safeguard data on its hard drives without having to use and
manage third party encryption software. Other large enterprises like Wipro says
that desktop management has become far easier with Windows 7. For instance,
using Windows 7 administrators can manage desktop images and can automate
repetitive and complex tasks using Windows PowerShell 2.0 command-line interface
which is a powerful scripting language built into Windows 7. Sources say that by
using group policy, IT staff can better control the security of computer fleet
by using features like BitLocker, AppLocker and leverage virtualization features
like Application Virtualization 4.5 to stream applications to client computers
on-demand.
Looking at the early adopters, the value they have derived so far out of
Windows 7 revolves around two areas: one is productivity and the other is better
security. Productivity comes from some of the inherent strengths of OS that
gives better insight and control over the desktops. In a large fleet of
desktops, security is a big challenge and some of the in-built features like
BitLocker and AppLcoker are an indispensable tool.
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Since the launch 5,000 Indian enterprises have adopted Windows 7. Of which 60% deployments were with large enterprises and 40% with SMBs Sumeet Khanna, |
Windows 7 is a good blend of performance, features and security. The Windows XP mode in Windows 7 ensures that even legacy applications which are not compatible can be run on Windows 7 VV Jacob, senior manager, systems, Malayala |
From a mid-sized enterprise perspective too Windows 7 is finding a reasonable
good adoption. Take the case of Malayala Manorama which is in the process of
deploying Windows 7 to over 850 PCs is taking a significant leap from the
existing XP systems. According to VV Jacob, senior manager, systems, Malayala
Manorama, Windows 7 is a good blend of performance, features and security. The
Windows XP mode in Windows 7 ensures that even legacy applications which are not
compatible can be run on Windows 7.
Whats Next
Arguably, Windows 7 is one of the best PC OSs, after XP, from Microsoft and
the company is leaving no stone unturned in making it really big. Industry
sources say that Microsoft is on the verge of releasing Windows 7 Service Pack
(SP 1) that will make the OS more robust. But many feel one of the biggest
bottlenecks would be piracy which would create huge losses for Microsoft in
India. Windows 7, despite its validation tools and online activation, has been
pirated in India like all other proprietary software. Microsoft sources, while
acknowledging the fact, say that it is working on a multi-pronged strategy to
bring down piracy of its products.
Cleary bigger mandates for Microsoft lie in large enterprises facing desktop
management issues. The adoption rates in India suggest that Windows 7 has
already created a compelling value and users will see a significant leap when
migrating from XP or Vista. With a combination of speed, performance, security
and a range of well thought out enterprise class features makes Windows 7 a
well-rounded OS. But still, due to the unique India market dynamics, XP and
Vista will continue to be a big slice in the PC OS pie in the next two years;
and except large enterprises, most of the deployments in desktops is expected to
happen in a phased manner. Meanwhile in the notebooks space, analysts are
expecting a faster adoption as mainstream notebooks mostly come with pre-loaded
OS.
As we look ahead, Microsoft does not want to keep its legacy OSs like XP
alive for a long time. Hence, enterprises inevitably have to take the Windows 7
plunge. Analysts believe that Windows 7 will get a significantly better
reception than Windows Vista, and it expects it to become the predominant OS in
both the corporate and the consumer space over the next four years. For most
corporate users, the critical factor is the end of life for Windows XP, which
Microsoft will not support after April 2014. Analysts anticipate waning third
party support for XP beginning in late 2011, and accelerating through 2012. Most
analysts expect that during 2010, CIOs will be putting in place Windows 7
migration roadmap and slowly move towards and by the end of this year large
scale deployments will happen in big numbers.
Shrikanth G
shrikanthg@cybermedia.co.in