New Harris Poll: Vista awareness up, sales not

Another day; another Windows Vista poll. The latest comes from the consumer-survey kingpins at Harris Interactive.

The latest Harris Vista findings: Microsoft has done a great job getting the word out about Windows Vista. But increased awareness isn't translating to an automatic increase in sales. According to the latest survey results, published by Harris on April 4:

"A full 87 percent of those online say they were 'aware' of Vista. Hats off to Microsoft because they certainly have gotten the word out and their marketing machine appears to be running at full throttle. In December of 2006, one month before launch, only 47 percent of those online were aware of Vista's existence. So awareness has skyrocketed since December!"

At the same time, however, as Harris noted:

"In December 2006, 20 percent of those online adults who are aware said they intended to upgrade to Vista within the coming year. The current survey results say that number has not really changed -- 12 percent of online adults who are aware say they intended to upgrade."

For its most recent poll, Harris surveyed online 2,223 U.S. adults between March 6 and 14, 2007 -- just about six weeks after the release of Windows Vista. I asked the Harris officials whether anyone had sponsored or requested the company to conduct this study. On April 5, a Harris representative said the study was conducted independently and not sponsored by any vendor or other party.

Here are the detailed results of one of Harris' questions:

"Do you intend to switch or upgrade your primary home computer to Windows Vista operating system in the next 12 months?"

Base: Online adults aware of Vista

                                                        March, 2007 %        December, 2006 %         

Yes, I will upgrade to Windows Vista:            12%                    20%

No, I will stay with my current OS:                 67%                    31%

Not sure:                                                        20%                    49%

Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding

Source: Harris Interactive

Bottom line: No big surprises, say the Harris folks. Consumers are taking a wait-and-see approach with Vista, Harris said. And given that,"Consumers tend to wait until a few service packs have been released to fix real or perceived problems," the delay in purchasing/upgrading is predictable, Harris officials added.

To see the rest of Harris' findings, check out the rest of the Harris Vista survey results here. Anyone else see anything surprising that I missed?