Vista vs. Windows XP - Redux

When Vista was first released, there were basically two schools of thought:
1) Avoid it as long as possible, at least to SP1
2) Accept the inevitable - you have to do it sooner or later anyway.

More recently, however, a third school of thought has emerged. A number of analysts have been arguing that Microsoft realizes (thought obviously does not admit) that Vista is a bomb, and will be fast tracking the NEXT version - currently known as Windows 7, which will be released in 2009-2010 (18-24 months). According to this analysis, Vista no longer becomes “inevitable,” but rather a simple “version” that can be skipped with virtually no adverse consequences.

It is difficult to say at this point in time whether this is correct or not. A key element, however, will be to see whether Microsoft pushes back the June 30 deadline when it currently plans to stop selling XP.  If it does, then the “wait for Windows 7" argument looks very persuasive.

For an extended analysis of the pros and cons, see Randall Kennedy’s article in Infoworld (the people pushing the “Save XP” campaign - which recently topped 100,000 signatures, primarily of IT and computer types).