Windows 7 Migrations: Tips for Getting the Timing Right

CIO — Seventy-five percent of commercial PCs are still running Windows XP, says a recent Windows 7 Adoption Outlook report by Forrester Research analysts Benjamin Gray and Christian Kane. That's not only a sign of XP's impressive longevity, but also a sign of how stagnant the PC market has been for years.

But finally, the times are changing, as noted by the report's survey that includes nearly 800 IT decision-makers: 46 percent of firms expect to migrate to Windows 7 within the next 12 months and 42 percent expect to do it in more than 12 months.

Now that Windows 7 is a proven commodity and its security, networking and virtualization features are better known, the reasons for deploying Windows 7 are moving beyond the general need (computers are old, XP is old) to the desire to use more specific Windows 7 enterprise features such as BranchCache, DirectAcess and BitLocker to Go, according to the Forrester report.

CIO — Seventy-five percent of commercial PCs are still running Windows XP, says a recent Windows 7 Adoption Outlook report by Forrester Research analysts Benjamin Gray and Christian Kane. That's not only a sign of XP's impressive longevity, but also a sign of how stagnant the PC market has been for years.

But finally, the times are changing, as noted by the report's survey that includes nearly 800 IT decision-makers: 46 percent of firms expect to migrate to Windows 7 within the next 12 months and 42 percent expect to do it in more than 12 months.

Now that Windows 7 is a proven commodity and its security, networking and virtualization features are better known, the reasons for deploying Windows 7 are moving beyond the general need (computers are old, XP is old) to the desire to use more specific Windows 7 enterprise features such as BranchCache, DirectAcess and BitLocker to Go, according to the Forrester report.

Also, Microsoft's (MSFT) virtualization tools such as XP Mode, and its desktop virtualization (Med-V) and application virtualization (App-V) tools for Software Assurance customers are helping businesses migrate applications not compatible with Windows 7.

But whether you are deploying Windows 7 as part of a PC refresh cycle or doing a company-wide migration all at once, it's important to keep in mind the timing of your Windows 7 migration, the timing of Windows XP's slow death and the application testing involved, writes Forrester.

Here are three recommendations about timing a Windows 7 deployment.

Understand How to Support the Dying Windows XP

The long, happy life of Windows XP is in its autumn years. The most popular version of Windows stopped receiving mainstream support in April, 2009. Mainstream support includes free and paid customer support, design change requests and free fixes for security patches and other bugs. Full support of this kind usually only lasts five years, but with Windows XP it lasted seven and a half years, mostly due to Windows Vista's delayed release and poor reception.

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

As of April, 2009 Windows XP has been in the extended support phase, which means businesses will still get free security updates and fixes, but will have to pay for technical support. Warranty claims and design changes are also no longer offered during extended support. Non-security hot fixes are provided to companies — mostly enterprises — that have enrolled in Microsoft's Extended Hotfix Support program.