News

Poll: 20 Percent Will Move to Vista in the Next Year

• By Stuart J. Johnston
• November 14, 2006

Eighty-six percent of IT decision makers say they plan to adopt Windows Vista, and 20 percent say they will move to the new operating system within the next year, according to a new tracking poll sponsored by CDW Corp.

Other results from the survey of 761 IT decision makers show that 51 percent say at least half of their existing hardware will need to be upgraded or replaced in order to run Vista. Still, only 14 percent say they are postponing hardware purchases or IT decisions in anticipation of Vista’s release.

High on the list of those who will need to replace the most hardware are state and local governments -- 24 percent said they will have to replace 91 percent to 100 percent of existing PCs in order to make the Vista switch.

Overall, 75 percent of respondents cited improved security as a key benefit of Vista, while 63 percent cited improved performance. Of those who have been beta testing Vista, nine percent said they have formed a somewhat or very unfavorable opinion, while 70 percent formed somewhat or very favorable impressions of the system.

The poll was conducted by Walker Information between Oct. 23 and Oct. 30, CDW said in a statement. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent at a 95 percent level of confidence.

CDW said that the survey was the first of three tracking polls it plans to commission over the next six months.