Farewell XP, hello touchy-feely 8

If your business’s computers are still running Windows XP, time is running out.

Microsoft has served notice to businesses that support for XP will cease in April 2014. That means no more security patches or hotfixes, and PCs still running XP will be vulnerable to security threats. Furthermore, third party software suppliers are likely to end support for their applications running on XP.

For businesses which have stuck with XP, expensive hardware upgrades are going to be needed, because PCs that were originally made to run XP just don’t have the CPU capacity to run any newer system.

The best move, Microsoft suggests (and one that will likely appeal to small businesses), is to upgrade now to Windows 7. A recent Gartner report suggests that more than 50% of organisations that do not start deploying Windows 7 by early 2012 will not complete their deployments before Windows XP support ends, and will incur increased support costs.

To help businesses with the transition, Microsoft offers an ROI tool to calculate the savings to be made by switching, along with migration tools to streamline planning, application compatibility, testing and deployment of Windows 7.

With the increasing use of portable devices and working remotely, employers are also being urged to move towards desktop virtualisation. A report from Forrester Consulting, commissioned by Dimension Data, says that virtualisation and cloud computing represent the future of the corporate client, and both are being adopted by “progressive” businesses.

COME IN NO.8, YOUR TIME IS NOW

Meanwhile, Microsoft is giving previews to the development community of the Windows 8 system, due to be rolled out sometime in 2012. One of its major boasts is that it’s very fast to boot up – a chronic complaint about all previous Windows systems.

In line with the trend towards touchscreens and tablets, Windows 8 features an interface called Metro, which is designed to be operated by touching. It can be operated by a keyboard and mouse, but the implication is that to get the full benefit, you’ll need a touchscreen PC. This is going to mean a whole new generation of applications designed to work by touch control – along with, presumably, touch-capable PCs, which are a bit thin on the ground at present.

It’s plain, therefore, that hardware developers are fully behind the shift to tablets as the future of computing. Windows 8 has an onscreen keyboard; however, anyone who’s used one of those knows how frustrating it is to lose that large strip of screen space. Windows 8 will also come with Internet Explorer 10 in two versions, one designed for touch control. That version, by the way, will not support Flash and other plug-ins. IE’s development team leader says plug-ins are yesterday’s thing, and getting rid of them will improve battery life, security, reliability and privacy for users.

But will businesses rush to embrace Windows 8? Silicon.com writer Nick Heath has his doubts, based on general dissatisfaction among businesses with Windows Vista (slow operating pace and software compatibility problems being two major complaints), combined with a general preference for Windows 7 (now being encouraged by Microsoft, see above).

By the time Windows 8 is released, Heath wrote recently, a sizeable portion of enterprise PCs will be running or due to be upgraded to Windows 7.

“Given that by the time Windows 8 is out a large swathe of businesses will have recently shelled out for Windows 7, it seems unlikely that enterprises will be willing to stump up for a new OS,” Heath said. “If those businesses put off their next OS upgrade for another four years, which is how long it typically takes for businesses to refresh their desktop OS, then businesses are likely to skip Windows 8 altogether, in favour of some future flavour of OS.

“So Windows 8 will have to do a good job selling its benefits into the enterprise market. Just as many businesses held onto Windows XP because it was good enough, so Windows 8 will have to offer performance and features that far outstrip anything found in Windows 7 if businesses are to bite.”

MORE ON WINDOWS 8

Photo tour >>

Video about the Windows 8 boot experience >>

In-depth views:

Part 1 http://lifehacker.com/5841764/windows-8-in+depth-part-1-the-metro-ui

Part 2 http://lifehacker.com/5842150/windows-8-in+depth-part-2-the-desktop

Part 3 http://lifehacker.com/5842209/windows-8-in+depth-part-3-windows-explorer

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