IT Buyers Like Windows Vista, But With Some Reservations, Survey Finds

A new Windows Vista survey, this one released by CDW Corporation, finds that IT decision makers are continuing to gradually warm to Microsoft's new operating system, albeit with some new reservations.

In its Second Windows Vista Tracking Poll of 753 IT managers, CDW found that the use and evaluation of Windows Vista increased by 8% over the previous poll. The new poll, released Tuesday, found that 29% of the respondents said their organizations are using Vista or evaluating the OS.

While improved performance and patching were cited in the first survey as top perceived benefits of Vista, those same perceived benefits -- while still cited -- dropped in importance with 56% now naming improved performance and patching as key benefits compared to 63% in the first poll. The poll revealed IT decision managers are having increased concerns about Vista over performance, patching and hardware requirements.

"Respondents seem to like using Windows Vista, with positive feedback outweighing negative feedback two to one," the report stated. "Of respondents implementing Windows Vista, 26% report either strong positive feedback or some positive feedback." The survey found a 13% negative feedback while 34% had mixed views and 27% had no feedback from users.

"The (poll) indicates that organizations are confronting and overcoming the barriers to adoption in increasingly complex and diverse computing environments," said Harry J. Harczak Jr., CDW executive vice president, in a statement. "Maintaining and increasing the pace of adoption will require Microsoft, industry partners and lead adapters to share best practices for implementing Vista smoothly and effectively."

To improve hardware requirements without massive configuration upgrades, CDW suggested increasing ReadyBoost memory "which enhances performance by using a USB device as additional memory." Noting also that Vista adds thousands of new features, CDW suggested that users implement the features that provide the most user value first.

In addition, CDW recommended that users implement offline patching with Windows Server Update Service to manage patching globally client by client.

The poll was conducted for CDW by Walker Information. A complete copy of the survey report is available online.