Graham Coles

UK

Software Engineer

Why is this good news for Microsoft? Surely it is a disaster.

Ever tried getting hold of a machine with XP pro installed? Apparently the poll suggests that two fifths of business users want to stick with it, yet MS want to bury XP so they can sell Vista (which, by the poll results, almost nobody wants!).

Also, given that the poll was likely responded by people at work and therefore from a population which is probably almost entirely XP users, you could also say this is not good. About three fifths of those surveyed want something else (and of the alternatives, the other windows offering, Vista, came in last with most people who want a change preferring either Mac or Linux).

Good news for Redmond? I think not. Only a political party could get away with spinning this as a majority. Without spin, you can take your pick of statements:

'Majority of users don't want to use XP'
'Vista last OS of choice for business users'
'More business users would rather use Linux on the desktop than Vista'

I can't see Microsoft being overjoyed at hearing this.