Report: Vista Adoption Outpacing OS X

Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system has been steadily gaining market share since its release earlier this year, and is on pace to overtake usage of Mac OS X within the next few months, according to a study published Tuesday by research firm NetApplications.

In February, Mac OS X's market share stood at 6.38 percent, while Vista -- which launched Jan. 30 -- stood at just 0.93 percent. But in June, Mac OS X usage had dipped to 6 percent, while Vista usage had jumped to 4.52 percent, according to the study.

The NetApplications study also found that Windows XP usage dropped only slightly during the February to June period, from 84.33 percent in February to 81.94 percent.

Many solution providers say their customers still don't see the business benefits of adopting Vista, and have avoided migrating to the next generation OS until application and hardware compatibility issues are addressed. Many VARs believe this will happen when Microsoft releases Vista service pack 1 later this year.

Operating system changes and upgrades are a major hassle for enterprises, says Reza Zarafshar, president and CEO of Advanced Computer Concepts, a solution provider based in McLean, Va.

"We're finding out that people aren't really jumping up and down wanting to upgrade [to Vista] unless there's a compelling reason. We have customers ordering large numbers of brand new laptops and desktops and specifically saying they don't want Vista," Zarafshar said.

Industry giants have also recently raised the yellow flag on Vista adoption. Earlier this month, a Dell Europe executive said the company was "stepping back" from telling people they must upgrade to Vista. And on Monday, Acer president Gianfranco Lanci went even further in describing the impact Windows Vista has had since its release.

"The whole industry is disappointed with Windows Vista," Lanci said in an interview with the German edition of the Financial Times.

CDW also recently completed a customer tracking survey and found that the majority of its customers are not ready to upgrade to Microsoft Vista.

"We found the majority is not using or evaluating [Vista] at this time. Those that are testing and evaluating said they plan to implement in the next 12 months," said Harry Harczak, executive vice president at CDW.

CDW plans to conduct another survey before the end of the year, Harczak said. "We will continue to promote Vista as people prepare their adoption plans," he said.

Additional reporting by Scott Campbell