Traditionally IT departments are cautious about plunging head first into a new operating system as soon as it launches. This has been the case with just about every iteration of Windows since its inception back in the ’80s.
When Windows 8 became available in 2012, many workplaces had just made the transition from Windows XP to Windows 7—and a fair share of companies were not even thinking of life after XP yet. That changed in the year following Windows XP end of of support, but as recently as June 2015, Windows 8 barely edged out Windows XP in percentage of user share.
Note that these statistics track both consumer and workplace users. (Source: Netmarketshare.com)
Looking at the Netmarketshare figures for 2010 as a whole, a year after the release of Windows 7, it shows that only 14% of users were deploying the new operating system.
In December 2013, a year and four months after the launch of Windows 8, under 10 percent of users had installed the newest Windows operating system.
Will Windows 10 adoption be different?
Windows 10 launches July 29, and IT pros appear more eager for Windows 10 adoption compared to past versions of new Windows operating systems. There is data backing this hunch. A Spiceworks survey of over 500 IT pros worldwide shows that most companies are planning on upgrading within two years. Here is what else business users said about why, when, and how they plan to deploy Windows 10 in the coming months.
It is worth noting that this Windows rollout will happen differently than in years past, with Microsoft taking a staggered approach to the launch by making it available first to companies involved in the Windows Insider Program. From there it will make Windows 10 available to customers who pre-order Windows 10.
Read more about the way Microsoft plans to launch Windows 10 on the company’s official blog post.
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6 comments
40% of IT professionals are incompetent and should be fired if this survey is accurate. Adopting a new MSFT operating soon after release is extremely irresponsible and puts the company at risk.
Excited about the start button?! Classic Shell restores the start button to Windows 8/8.1 for free right now. All IT pros who are excited about this should be fired immediately for gross incompetence.
We are standardized on Windows 8.1 64-bit with Classic Shell (except for one user who prefers Metro, go figure) and have no plans on upgrading to 10 until it is proven.
I’ve prevented installation of all Windows 10 related updates on our systems as well.
What is an acceptable period of time to wait before introducing a new Windows OS in a work environment?
I’m not sure it’s possible to set an exact rule, as it depends on how good and secure the new version of Windows turns out to be. The various pre-release technical demonstrators may mean this version of Windows is more mature than its predecessors and thus can be adopted sooner.
I think one year is a good rule of thumb, but I’ll invoke Potter Stewart here: an IT professional knows it’s ready when he sees it’s ready.
The Potter Stewart rule, indeed. Does that make Windows 10 an “obscenity” in IT environments until next year?
[…] IT waits at least 1-2 years to roll out a new operating system. There is some data that suggests IT departments might be faster to adopt Windows 10 than with past operating systems, but this remains to be seen this early in the […]
[…] thinking about taking the Window 10 plunge with your IT—and many departments will, according to Spiceworks’ survey numbers. For a snapshot of how an IT pro installs Windows 10 in the workplace, systems administrator CJ […]