Lots of Business Will Let Next Few Months Pass Without Changes - Will You Do the Same?

All this talk about the RTM of Windows 7 has many people whipped up into a frenzy about upgrades; none are more excited than Microsoft, and the hardware manufacturers. They are busily getting things ready for the anticipated onslaught of customers, busily grabbing up new machines or upgrade hardware pieces to make the transition to Windows 7 as fluid as possible.

Yet, we hear that a full 6 in 10 businesses are doing absolutely nothing, instead deciding to ride the tide and stay with Windows XP, or possibly Windows Vista.

I have been firmly in the camp of those who are going to wait, for the most part, but as I said before, I’ll buy at least one copy, so that I am familiar with the new OS, and will be ready to help the many users and small businesses that will need help. Make no mistake; no matter the amount of assurances that Microsoft gives, people will have troubles. Windows 7 is different, and that difference will lead to [at least] some troubles.

A site that portends to give the bright side of news, gives a very good write up of the reasons why many gamers will change to Windows 7 immediately, and why others will be dragged along, kicking and [possibly] screaming.

People are now talking about DX 11 and Windows 7, and while the operating system itself seems to do much to fix the wrongs of its predecessor, it’s still got virtually nothing that XP users see and go “I have to have that!” About the only reason people are looking forward to it is because it’s not broken enough to make them become two generations out of date instead of one. So upgrades there shall be, but this time with a sigh, not a cheer. Long gone are the days when a new DirectX release (which could happen several times on the same OS even without a Service Pack!) prompted a flurry of downloads and new graphics card purchases.

I have been saying this for some time, though not nearly as well. It’s fully true that Windows 7 will be a consumer success, in no small part because almost no one wants to be 2 generations out of date.

The article gives all the particulars, and in about 25 paragraphs tells everyone who cares, why they should or should not be considering the upgrade, and does it in a very unbiased way (unbiased because no hardware or software company seems to be influencing their recommendations – and is perhaps the closest thing to great journalism I have read in a long while).

My suggestion, above reading the article, is to make your small hardware changes now (of course, if you’re buying a new machine, this does not apply), so that you are fully familiar with the changes in just hardware, before having to sort out the effects of software changes. The graphics card upgrades will be many, and the new motherboards will be appearing in August. There will be i5 Intel boards, and 785G boards for AMD. Both promise big changes, as well as some introducing the users to things like SATA 3 and USB 3. The i5 promises more speed, while the 785G promises to take full advantage of the latest AM3 processors, and will include much better onboard graphics. This means that, more than ever, some will be able to live with onboard graphics, and those who don’t will want to carefully choose, to take advantage of hybrid Crossfire X.

Now’s the time to start the looking, and reading, before any footwork starts. Good luck, and happy hunting.

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