Are you ready to ditch XP for Windows 7?
According to NetApplications, Windows XP is still the OS of choice for users out there in ComputerLand, with some two-thirds of users still making use of the aging OS. By comparison, Vista is struggling to capture a quarter of the market share. Vista's "WOW!" failed to capture the attention of users, as many chose to stick with their older OS.
If you are an XP user, has what you've seen of Windows 7 made you willing to ditch XP?
The way I see it, Microsoft needs to be putting effort into marketing Windows 7 to those currently using XP. After all, those already using Vista have shown a willingness to switch OSes already, and moving from Vista to 7 isn't that much of a leap. It's those entrenched XP users that present a problem for Microsoft. These people, for whatever reason, turned their backs on Vista, and it's these people that Microsoft needs to win back.
But it's not going to be easy.
While Microsoft tried to convince people that Vista wasn't really as bad as they thought it was by resorting to a web ad campaign that was thinly disguised as an "experiment", those still using XP weren't buying it. In fact it wasn't until Microsoft's "Laptop Hunter" ad campaign that the Redmond giant started seeing its ad dollars really having an effect. Problem for Microsoft is that these ads spend their time selling Windows-based PCs rather than Windows itself. It seems that Microsoft knows that selling Windows is an uphill struggle.
Another problem for Microsoft is that there's no easy upgrade path for XP users wanting to move to Windows 7. While I usually hate doing in-place upgrades on an OS (that's where you apply the OS over the top of the existing one and keep all your old settings and programs) because it leads to more problems than it solves, I know that there are a lot of people out there who like this method because it saves them a lot of time and effort. You can't do this going from XP to 7. You can use Windows Easy Transfer to move your stuff (data, not apps), which is probably the safest method, but it's a multi-step hassle that many won't bother with.
As I see it there's another obstacle in the way of XP users adopting 7, and that is the fact that if you peel away the Windows 7 veneer, what you end up with resembles Vista. A lot. Sure, it's Vista SP2, and not the poor quality RTM code that Microsoft shoveled into user's faces, but it's still Vista. There may be fewer comparability roadblocks than there was for those who tried moving from XP to Vista, but users going from XP to Windows 7 are still going to stumble across roadblocks. XP Mode will help, but ultimately it's a kludge. A kludge that's only available to people who buy the most expensive versions of Windows 7.
It'll be interesting to see how Microsoft tries to win over the entrenched XP user. Microsoft may decide to throw ad dollars at the problem. Alternatively, Microsoft might stick with the current "Laptop Hunter" style ads and rely on user's PC growing obsolete over time.
Thoughts?