This slashdot article is interesting, highlighting the 2 problems businesses feel hamper their uptake of Windows Vista into their IT infrastructure. Namely the patch model, and the application incompatibility.

However, I also have problems that are different but I feel are more important as to the uptake of the new OS (being that I have a say as to what my company uses and when.) Here are 4 I could think of straight away off the top of my head:

1) The biggest problem I can see is historical. Microsoft have released versions of their OS’s in the past that require at least one service pack to plug the security holes (Windows 2K and XP recently) - and business users aren’t going to take the chance on the way Vista counteracts these issues with the new Security procedures put in place.

2) The second biggest problem is the spec of the machine required. If you want a usable version of Vista, you’ll need a higher spec than the current Windows 2K/XP machines.

3) IT Professionals don’t like support calls. Now don’t get me wrong, we enjoy solving user problems, but we don’t enjoy the “why are the menus different in Vista?” questions or the such like. The changes from 95 - 98 - 2000 were easy to deal with, with only a short hop to XP. Vista is a bit more radical however.

4) Controversy over licensing. We’ve all heard the stories of what Microsoft actually meant when they put specific wording into the licensing agreement. Did it mean we couldn’t migrate the OS to a different machine, or did it mean we could? Even if the licensing is proven to be at least the same, that still leaves unrest in the business sector. We want to make sure everything is crystal clear before we invest our hard earned cash.

The link to the slashdot article can be found below. [SHOW ME]