"Users need to say this policy doesn't make sense," Silver advises, and try to convince Microsoft to change it. Consumer pressure has worked to sway Microsoft licensing policies before; notably, businesses' strong resistance to Vista caused Microsoft to extend the availability of Windows XP several times in various forms.
The perils of using XP mode
Silver notes that Microsoft is sending mixed signals to XP-based users, given that it will include a license for XP as part of Windows 7 Ultimate in what is called XP mode. In XP mode, a virtual machine can run Windows XP in parallel to Windows 7. But this approach doubles IT's workload, as it must deploy and manage two OSes per PC: Windows 7 and Windows XP. "That's not optimal," Silver says. And because many PCs can't run the Virtual PC technology that makes XP mode work, IT will face compatibility complications as well.
Silver suggests that XP mode will end up being used only for XP applications that can't run under Windows 7 (whether or not they're formally supported in Windows 7 by their vendors). But there may be more of those than IT realizes. The reason: Web apps tuned to Internet Explorer 6, which Microsoft has essentially orphaned. Windows 7 will ship with IE8, which has a compatibility mode for IE7, but not for IE6. And if IT retains IE7 in Windows 7, Silver notes that IE7 lacks an IE6 compatibility mode. So IT must rework its IE6-dependent Web apps or use XP mode to run IE6. Both are hassles.
Other questions on moving to Windows 7
IT needs to work through several other issues when figuring out its Windows 7 migration strategy, Silver points out.
One key issue is that Microsoft has yet to make public the details of its Technology Guarantee program or even say if there will be one that covers business purchases. The Technology Guarantee program gives free upgrades to Windows 7 on PCs purchased after a certain date. That's crucial for businesses that plan to adopt Windows 7 soon, so they can time their hardware purchases to avoid paying for a Windows 7 upgrade shortly after buying a PC shipping with Vista. (Businesses that use XP technically buy a computer with Vista and then downgrade to XP, so the Technology Guarantee program applies to them as well.) Of course, businesses with the Software Assurance plan have, in essence, already paid for the ability to install Windows 7 when they want.
The other key issues don't involve Microsoft. Silver says that even if applications designed for XP or Vista run on Windows 7, that's no guarantee that the software vendor will support them on Windows 7. Some vendors are planning to ship Windows 7-oriented upgrades that IT must buy to get continuing software support, he notes -- and some are even planning to use Windows 7 support as an excuse to increase prices.
