Do US businesses want Vista at last?

Take-up of Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system is starting pick up with US businesses.

Just under half (48 per cent) of US IT decision makers are using or evaluating Vista, according to a poll by IT services firm CDW.

This is CDW's third Windows Vista tracking poll since October 2006 and shows a 19-percentage-point increase in take-up since February 2007.

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Vista migration is also increasing with more than a third (35 per cent) of those surveyed saying they are in the process of moving to Vista. In comparison, just 12 per cent said this last February.

Thirteen per cent of these migrations are complete and another third are due to be finished by May 2008.

CDW says this shows Microsoft's latest operating system is now seen as a more viable option in the mainstream business market.

Of those still testing and migrating to Vista, almost half said its performance and key features are "above expectations" with the top-rated features being security, performance, productivity, search and updates.

Mark Gambill, CDW VP, said the past year was one of "adaptations and learning for Microsoft, industry partners and adopters alike".

He added that since people have begun to understand the benefits of the OS there has been a "steady move toward adoption".

The CDW survey also found an increase in Microsoft Office 2007 adoption with almost a quarter (24 per cent) of businesses saying they'd made the move, compared to just six per cent in the last survey.

The poll was conducted by Walker Information and covered 772 IT decision makers.