Gartner: Wait Until 2008 to Adopt Vista

Research firm Gartner made waves Friday by telling clients in a note that there was no compelling reason for most businesses to upgrade to Windows Vista until 2008 -- or even later. However, Microsoft's response to the scathing analysis may shock many: it called the report "balanced."

The research note, entitled "Ten reasons you should and shouldn't care about Microsoft's Windows Vista client," highlighted the problems with Microsoft's strategy for the next-generation operating system.

Most companies will already have security measures in place that would equal the enhancements scheduled for Vista, and many of the new features are already available through third-party products, such as better firewall protection and search, Gartner said.

Vista will "offer incremental, evolutionary improvements" over Windows XP but not much else, the firm writes, poking holes in Microsoft's argument that the update is a major new release of its flagship operating system.

Gartner is recommending that companies "pursue a strategy of managed diversity" and wait up to 18 months after Vista is released to start rolling out systems with the new OS. With Vista scheduled for a holiday 2006 release, Gartner is suggesting a mid-2008 timeframe.

Industry watchers would expect Microsoft to repudiate the analysis, but in a statement to BetaNews, the company did exactly the opposite. "Microsoft feels that Gartner's report is balanced," a spokesperson said. The company seemed to ignore the half of the report that reflected negatively on the release.

"We predict Windows Vista will be the largest and fastest adoption in the history of any OS we've shipped," the Microsoft spokesperson argued. "Microsoft remains on track for shipping Windows Vista in the second half of 2006. We are on schedule and committed to shipping on time and ensuring a high-quality product."