Has Windows 7 had a big impact on Microsoft's frustrated customers and on Microsoft's bruised reputation? According to one study, Microsoft posted a bigger boost in customer-satisfaction scores after the Win7 rollout than ultracool Apple did after its release of Snow Leopard. That news, plus its strong financial results this week, give Microsoft some much-needed momentum.Noting that Microsoft's customer-satisfaction rate rose 14 percent through the end of 2009, market-research firm YouGovPlc said Apple's comparable lift was only half of Microsoft's at 6.9%, according to a Bloomberg.com article:

The percentage of customers satisfied with Microsoft reached 73 percent on Dec. 31, the highest since YouGov started surveying in 2007. Microsoft's reputation is benefiting from the positively reviewed Windows 7, after some customers held off personal-computer purchases to avoid the product's predecessor, Vista, said Matt Rosoff, an analyst at Kirkland, Washington- based Directions on Microsoft.

For CIOs, this news is likely to inspire additional confidence that Windows 7 can be regarded as a viable upgrade strategy, compensating for the disastrous Vista experience that all parties are eager to put behind them. Along with its new alliance with Hewlett-Packard and some forecasts that IT spending will be relatively strong in 2010, Microsoft is clearly counting on Win7 to play a huge role in getting back on CIOs' must-have lists.