Monday, April 12, 2004

Microsoft: Not enough XPerienced PCs | CNET News.com

Microsoft: Not enough XPerienced PCs | CNET News.com: "With more than 90 percent of the world's PCs running some form on Windows, Microsoft has long considered its chief competition to be its installed base--convincing customers that they need a new OS can be a tough sell. That's been especially true with XP, which after two-and-a-half years on the market is installed at about 62 percent of businesses with revenue of $50 million or more, according to Jupiter Research.
In addition, a study in December found that 80 percent of companies still have some machines running Windows 95 or Windows 98. And at firms running the older operating systems, an average of 39 percent of desktops were running either Windows 95 or Windows 98, according to technology consultant AssetMetrix.
Even more troubling for Microsoft is the fact that many corporate buyers who already have a license to install XP are remaining on the sidelines. 'In the enterprise, it is not a situation where customers don't have license to it,' Johnson said.
Microsoft faces a similar issue on the server side, with many of its customers clinging to older versions of the OS. Some analysts estimate that up to 40 percent of servers still run Microsoft's two-generations-old Windows NT 4. "

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