Microsoft Points To Tech Refresh As Profits Fall

That ending of support, combined with new business-centric features in Windows 7, may finally persuade businesses that base their IT infrastructure on Microsoft’s products to complete the transition to the newer operating system.

Windows 7 features cited by analysts as particularly useful to the enterprise include DirectAccess, which attempts to simplify connectivity for Mobile users, BitLocker and BitLocker To Go, which secures data on hard drives and removable USB thumb drives, and AppLocker, which delivers more granular control of user applications.

A Forrester survey of 653 PC decision-makers at North American and European enterprises and SMBs found that six out of 10 firms plan on moving directly to Windows 7. In that survey, 1 percent planned to “skip Windows 7 and wait for the next release,” and 1 percent planned “to migrate from Windows to a different platform.”