CIO —

Windows XP has been called "the operating systems that won't die" — and with good reason. Eight and a half years after its release, XP still powers 80 percent of all Windows-based enterprise PCs, according to research firm Forrester.

But time is finally working against the steadfast XP, and factors are uniting to give enterprises compelling reasons to migrate to Windows 7. Those factors include: aging XP infrastructures need refreshing; Windows XP's support is nearing an end; XP's availability will eventually get squeezed; and client virtualization has evolved and can speed up migrations.

[ For complete coverage on Microsoft's (MSFT) new Windows 7 operating system -- including hands-on reviews, video tutorials and advice on enterprise rollouts -- see CIO.com's Windows 7 Bible. ]

"Our customers used to talk about if they were going to migrate to Windows 7. Now they're talking about when and how," says Gavriella Schuster, Microsoft's general manager of Windows product management.

To motivate Windows 7 migrations, Microsoft this week announced the availability of MDOP 2010, the latest iteration of its deployment tool suite for software assurance customers. MDOP 2010's application (App-V 4.6) and desktop (MED-V 1.0) virtualization features have been updated to ease migrations to Windows 7 and Office 2010.

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But a mass migration to Windows 7 certainly does not come cheap and without risks. However, a recent Microsoft-commissioned TEI (total economic impact) study conducted by Forrester Consulting concludes that Windows 7 provides big ROI (return on investment) over time, roughly a 129 percent ROI over three years with a break-even point of 13 months after deployment.

For the study, Forrester conducted extensive interviews with 12 companies currently using Windows 7, ranging from a large U.S. municipality to a northern European oil and gas company. The companies were provided by Microsoft.

From the data culled from the 12 companies, Forrester created a fictional composite company to demonstrate the costs, benefits and risks of implementing Windows 7. The composite company generates $1 billion in annual revenue with several locations around the globe; has 5,000 employees who travel frequently; has a mix of Windows XP and Vista in place prior to deployment; uses a three-year workstation refresh cycle, with a 35/65 desktop/laptop ratio.

Forrester emphasizes that their numbers are estimates, and that the costs and benefits for organizations will vary based on factors such as number of users, language requirements and server configurations.

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