Vista, Office 2007 hit the streets

By Warwick Ashford for Microsoft
Johannesburg, 30 Jan 2007

Microsoft's long-awaited Windows Vista operating system and Office 2007 productivity suite have gone on sale at retailers around the world. This enables consumers to assess for themselves whether the new software lives up to Microsoft's claims.

"It's been a long time in coming, but I am sure users will agree that it was well worth the wait and anyone experiencing Windows Vista and Office 2007 is bound to find something they like and must have," says Jonathan Hatchuel, Windows client business group manager at Microsoft SA.

Hatchuel expects the biggest initial uptake of Vista to be by "tech-enthusiasts" keen to upgrade from Windows XP to Vista's refined graphical interface, and take advantage of the extended connectivity options and improved security environment.

Whatever the demand, Hatchuel does not expect any shortages. He says unlike previous product releases, an authorised local replicator had been appointed to fill orders on demand.

Driving the upgrade cycle

Although most PCs purchased in the past two years will be Vista-ready, the next highest uptake is expected to be from customers buying Vista pre-installed on new PCs. Hatchuel says channel partners have reported a slow-down in PC sales ahead of the release of the new software.

Hatchuel says of the six versions of Vista on offer from today, the Home Premium edition is likely to be the biggest seller in the local consumer market. The Vista Starter edition, which is only available pre-installed on new PCs, is also expected to be popular, particularly with first time buyers.

"In addition to a safer and easier operating system provided by the Starter and Home Basic editions, the Home Premium edition offers the new Aero desktop with 3D navigation, enhanced mobility and tablet PC support, as well as a variety of digital entertainment features," he explains.

Windows Vista Ultimate straddles the consumer and business markets, and is aimed at users who want to use their PCs at work and home. However, Hatchuel concedes this is likely to be a relatively small market. He says individual user requirements will ultimately drive the upgrade cycle.

Hatchuel expects the new context-sensitive search facilities to be one of the features that will make the biggest impact across all editions of Vista. "Search has been built in just about everywhere to enable users to find anything stored on a local computer, intranet and even the Web."

The remaining two editions are aimed at small, medium and large enterprises, which appear to have given Vista and Office 2007 the thumbs up after the software was released to business customers in October.

Local business support

Two local participants in Microsoft's technology adoption programme, MTN SA and Sasfin Bank, agree it has been an easy transition to the new software. Both support Microsoft's claims that little training will be required because of the intuitive user interfaces.

"We have certainly not experienced the same disruptions in moving from Windows XP to Windows Vista as we did from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95," says Erich Roberts, group executive for information systems at MTN SA.

MTN claims to have one of the most advanced local implementations of Vista, but has chosen to roll-out the operating system progressively rather than across the whole organisation at once. Roberts plans to add a further thousand users to the current group of 200 by the end of June.

Dawie Olivier, IT project manager for Sasfin Bank, reports a similarly easy transition to Office 2007, with the new context-sensitive user interface requiring little explanation. He says the only real input in rolling out the product across the entire organisation has been in the form of sharing tips with users on how to get the most out of the new features.

Although unable to give specific figures relating to expected returns on investment, Roberts says one of the biggest business benefits of Vista is that a single configuration of the operating system can be used for all makes and types of computers across the enterprise.

"The cost savings from easier installation and maintenance, as well as the operating system's improved data management capability, are enough to justify the investment in Vista from an IT perspective," says Roberts. He reports saving up to five hours on some routine tasks.

Neither organisation has put metrics in place to measure improved productivity. However, both Olivier and Roberts say they can measure the success of the implementations by the relatively few problems they have encountered and a marked improvement in stability and security.