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In another sign of momentum for Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system, a survey by Forrester Research shows that a majority of early adopters are “very satisfied” with the operating system and a surprising number of older PC owners are making the upgrade.
Furthermore, Forrester says the characteristics of early adopters of Windows 7 align with some of the key features of the new operating system. In other words, the operating system is hitting the right chords with the audiences that matter most to Microsoft.
In particular, Forrester says early adopters include the young and wealthy tech optimists - “like Apple evangelists.”
“Windows 7 early adopters resemble Mac users – high income, Gen X or Gen Y, and optimistic about technology,” says Forrester.
Also, early adopters tend to be multiple PC owners and have been able to take advantage of the advanced networking capabilities of the new operating system. “With 3.2 PCs per household on average, Windows 7 early adopters – at least those with multiple copies of Windows 7 – were in a position to network their PCs with the Home Group feature. For those not currently using Home Group, an upsell opportunity exists to remarket Windows 7 to these early adopters for their other PCs.”
Forrester also found that early adopters were more likely to upgrade their old PCs to Windows 7 than in past new operating system launches. Older versions usually found their way into consumers’ homes through PC replacements. “Where Windows Vista’s size demanded high performance, the relatively thinner Windows 7 client runs well on older PCs – a fact proven out during beta testing,” Forrester added.
The result – and Microsoft must be smiling to hear this – is that Forrester found early adopters are “very satisfied with their Windows 7 experience.” Forrester surveyed some 4,600 adopters of the operating system during the first two months of Windows 7’s release for the survey. Some 86% of Windows 7 early adopters said they are satisfied with their computer overall, compared to 74% for users of all versions of Windows.
The bottom line is the early reviews for Windows 7 are looking good for Microsoft and as the economy starts to pick up, it should be able to capitalize on the positive reviews.
Another study by Dimensional Research earlier this month found that more than half of enterprises are making firm plans to migrate to Windows 7. It found that about 16% of enterprises are currently running Windows 7 on some of their machines and that 42% planned to start deployment before the end of 2010.
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