Windows 7 is now generally available to the public. You can buy it at your favorite store or online or purchase a computer with Windows 7 installed. After the Vista debacle, most small business owners skipped Vista and are still running XP. Now they are skittish and asking, “Do I really need to upgrade? And if so, when?”
According to PCWorld (http://bit.ly/4qnWK), XP will still be available for delivery on some computers through June 2010. Support for XP, in the form of security patches, will continue until April 2014. Bug fixes will only be available for businesses that have signed support contracts with Microsoft (most small business owners don’t have this type of contract).
So, do you need to be in a rush to upgrade? No. When should you upgrade? Sometime during the next four years. I’m not trying to be flippant. You can probably wait six months to a year, to allow other bugs to be discovered. Here are four things to consider when deciding when to upgrade to Windows 7:
- Cost. The cost of an upgrade is $299 per computer for Windows 7 plus the cost of any software that must be upgraded. The hidden cost will be for hardware. Do your computers and servers have sufficient memory and hard drive to support the upgrade? If it has been a while since you purchased hardware, you may need to upgrade. This is an additional cost for which you will need to plan.
- Effort. Unfortunately, if you are running XP, you can’t just buy the Windows 7 upgrade and install it. You must backup you data, wipe the hard drive and then install XP. This is not a task you should undertake lightly.
- XP Bugs. If you run into a bug in XP and you don’t have a support contract with Microsoft, their response will be “You need to upgrade to Windows 7.” If the bug is an annoyance, you can delay the upgrade. However, if it is preventing you from conducting business, you should upgrade soon.
- Critical applications. When do you plan to upgrade mission critical applications? Do these applications require Windows 7? Or more importantly, do you have a critical application that you can’t upgrade (e.g. software vendor went out of business) and won’t work with Windows 7? Windows 7 has an XP mode that will allow many of these applications to continue to work or you can leave that PC out of the migration.
- Features. Does Windows 7 possess features that will create a strategic advantage for your business?
If you don’t have a compelling business reason to upgrade, you can wait and plan the upgrades. It is not necessary to upgrade all of your computers at one time. You can upgrade them as finances allow. If you have any questions, contact your I.T. service provider or feel free to ask ITMinefield on Twitter.
Wishing you safe passage through the I.T. Minefield!
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Upgrading hardware and software are discussed in greater detail in Navigating the I.T. Minefield: Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise. To purchase your copy, please visit http://bit.ly/SNL4W.
Leslie Knight is a small business consultant with over 20 years of experience in Information Technology management in Fortune 500 companies. She applies her experience in Corporate America saving them millions to smaller entrepreneurial enterprises. She is also the author of Navigating the I.T. Minefield.
