Survey Finds Few Intend to Upgrade to Vista

thefickler writes "A recent Harris Poll has found that while most online computers users are aware of Microsoft's Windows Vista, few are intending to switch over to the new operating system anytime soon. The Harris Poll of 2223 US online adults in early March found that 87% were aware of Vista. Unfortunately for Microsoft, only 12% of Vista-aware respondents were intending to upgrade to Vista in the next 12 months."

Comments

Early Adoptor == Burned

[ackthpt]

Alas, where I work we will be enthusiastically embracing Vista. My supervisor was very upbeat when she
told me I would be getting a new computer loaded with Vista and that I needed to familiarise myself with it
because everyone else would be getting Vista, too.

I'm an old school computer guy. I don't "upgrade" until I have to or there is sufficient benefit to be
gained. I learned this from a crafty old fellow who felt so, after being burned several times.

As to why, I see Vista as little more than a ploy to hold market share and gain some profits, as the existing
XP profit cycle has likely flattened. There will be a few bells and whistles, but the security aspect tells me they know
less about writing operating systems than their predecessors of 30 years ago. I think they still just don't get it. I also feel it's been rushed.

After all these years Windows is still a big mysterious black box, wherein things happen of which we know little and therefore
have little say in behaviour of or control over.

Besides, I've always been a fan of having the actual code at my finger tips. ;-)

Re:Early Adoptor == Burned

[Anonymous Coward]

On the other hand, I happen to need to buy a new computer for my son going off to college and being a mere consumer (i.e. powerless to get an OEM to sell me an XP system instead of Vista), I will be buying a stand alone copy of XP from a website to replace the copy of Vista that will come with the machine. My copy of Vista will end up sitting on the shelf. Yes, I know I'm paying Microsoft twice but what can one do? My son needs a Windows based computer and the university doesn't support (and doesn't want to support) Vista.

Truthfully, I don't want Vista on the computer. However, I wonder how many other people find themselves in this predicament of basically being forced to pay Microsoft twice?

Re:Early Adoptor == Burned

[Anonymous Coward]

"Downgrading" your license is possible, depending on the license.

Re:Early Adoptor == Burned

[Grishnakh]

I will be buying a stand alone copy of XP from a website to replace the copy of Vista that will come with the machine. My copy of Vista will end up sitting on the shelf. Yes, I know I'm paying Microsoft twice but what can one do?

Ever heard of BitTorrent?

Re:Early Adoptor == Burned

[dingDaShan]

It seems that Microsoft didn't make XP bad enough. If it was, people would want to upgrade. See windows 98 for example.

ORLY?

[kv9]

Unfortunately for Microsoft, only 12% of Vista-aware respondents were intending to upgrade to Vista in the next 12 months.

fortunately for Microsoft, the OEMs provide good business.

Re:ORLY?

[Clever7Devil]

I had a short conversation today with a customer service rep from Dell regarding buying a new laptop.

System Initial Question/Comment: Is it possible to get a laptop with XP or no OS?
System You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat
System Connected with ATG Anibal
ATG Anibal Thank you for contacting the Dell Employee and Student Purchase Program. My name is Anibal, I will be your personal assistant today. I will be glad to assist you with your questions.
ATG Anibal To be sure that I can further assist you, may I have the name of the company or institution that you work for?
Me ::Deleted my company name for obvious reasons::
ATG Anibal Yes , those are latitude notebooks. Those are the ones that will give you xp as an option
Me Alright... can I get no OS?
ATG Anibal No, is not an option.
Me So, just so I understand what you're saying. If I want to buy a Dell Laptop I also must buy Windows with it?
ATG Anibal That is correct
Me And if I want to buy an Inspiron laptop, I also must buy Vista?
ATG Anibal That is correct, unless you go with latitude notebooks
Me Thank you for your help.

"Is not an option" was my favorite part. YA RLY

the great philosopher asked...

[SummitCO]

What if a monopoly made a product and nobody bought it?

the WOW starts now lol

[GraphiX2004]

the WOW starts now...

WOW nothing works no more!
WOW it wont let me playing this media because of DRM
WOW my entire system has stoped working because it thinks im a pirate
WOW i no longer control my pc it controls me.

WOW i have to pay for this?

Re:What does it offer?

[Chazmyrr]

Right. So aside from maintaining a separate frame buffer for each window, providing a toolkit that allows resolution independant user interfaces, forcing developers to stop assuming that only one user is logged on at a time and that that user is an administrator, moving most of the device drivers out into user space where they can't crash the rest of the system, improved scheduling on multiple cores, improved memory management, non-destructive re-partitioning, a version of DirectX where vendors can't claim their hardware is compliant when it really isn't, full disk encryption, 3rd party credential providers that don't replace system libraries, Media Center, and a desktop that doesn't look like ass, what does Vista actually offer?

Maybe it doesn't offer you anything. That's fine. Don't assume that's the case for everyone else.