Deployments of Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows Vista operating system are projected to reach 90m units in 2007, IDC predicts. However, it says uptake will be strongest in the consumer market in the first year.
IDC believes that Windows Vista will quickly displace the majority of shipments of older Windows client operating systems and this will be led by a strong acceptance on the consumer front.
During 2007 Windows Vista Home products are projected to account for 90pc of new Windows operating environments deployed by home users.
By comparison, Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Enterprise will account for 35pc of the new Windows client operating environments deployed by business users.
During the second full year of availability, Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Enterprise will grow to account for 80pc of new deployments.
During 2007 IDC expects that Windows Vista Home Basic will account for 67pc of consumer purchases with Windows Home Premium capturing 30pc of the consumer acquisitions.
Windows Vista Ultimate will account for 2pc of the worldwide shipments. The balance of Windows Vista consumer shipments are home deployments of Windows Vista Business.
On the business front, 82pc of Windows Vista deployments are expected to be the Business Edition, while the remaining 18pc will be Windows Vista Enterprise.
Up until 2010 IDC forecasts that Windows client operating environments will experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.2pc, leading to a total of 200,000 annual shipments of Windows environments in 2010.
“After a long wait, the adoption of Windows Vista will take place almost immediately among consumers while businesses will follow a decidedly more conservative adoption curve,” said Al Gillen, research vice-president of system software at IDC.
“Across the product mix, IDC expects to see a healthy movement toward Windows Vista Home Premium while Windows Vista Ultimate will remain a niche product for some time to come.”
By John Kennedy
