Do you downgrade Vista to XP?
Chatting with a few UK Partners last week about whether they are installing Vista with positive results, many said they were waiting for SP1 or they (or their customers) were “stubbornly sticking to XP” or have “actually asked for downgrade”.
In balance, I got a large number of Partners who have successfully installed Vista and are enjoying the benefits - most success comes from selling from the point of view of Admin support and I know most sales in Vista are done via the OEM licensing route (new kit = new software). It seems that Vista booms better in new installs/ network upgrades and perhaps not so much in businesses who don’t use an OS in the way that would make them realise its benefits.
Spending new money to use just a small percentage of the something new is a waste of time. You’ll probably only use the same few functions as you did before unless you decide to invest in training and education. If you don’t, the buying decision will only be made if the price is right - an argument that no-one likes to have when we’re all about services and adding value (not to mention that Partners have created IT environments where XP ticks over quite nicely). If you have customers who want to adopt new technology and at the same time are keen to learn more about the technology they use, then Vista is an easier conversation to have. If the customer spends money with a view that technology is a necessary evil then you have an uphill struggle when it comes to anything that you can’t sell on anything but a cheaper final price.
So what do Microsoft need to do to help? Lower the price? Change the way the products are marketed? (i.e. make more of a business case for it and amplify the sound in the small business space?), run something like ORPC but for Vista? Put a few case studies together on who Vista is sold to best and how (i.e. how it is licensed)?
Since a recent post of mine was made in response to Partner interest at a recent Microsoft OEM Roadshow, there have been questions at most MS Events that I’ve attended as to why IT VARs want to make the move to Vista and instead downgrade to XP.
If you haven’t already done so and would like to help them understand why Vista isn’t kicking in for you, you may want to drop James an email telling him. He’s asked me for some feedback and where better to ask than the SMB Community?
I have a strong feeling Vista isn’t selling as well as was initially anticipated… would love to know how many downgrade activations the Microsoft Software Team get monthly. That’s one statistic we’ll never get to hear about!
It may be time that we all ignore the banging drum of Vista and talk honestly about what some are quietly blogging about:
“Microsoft makes an enormous amount of money from Software Assurance. So we [Microsoft] don’t really care if you use XP or Vista - you’ve [the customer] already paid us for the right to deploy whatever Windows OS you choose.”
[…] Susanne has gone and written a blog post asking what customers are doing regarding their Vista deployments so I thought I would do a quick poll to ask the question about your own Vista plans in your business (or in your customer’s businesses if you are a partner). Feel free to leave comments too - I would love to hear from you. […]
I still frequently sell new machines from Dell with the XP downgrade pre-loaded. I’m not sure Microsoft have failed to market the product. The product itself has so far failed to WOW and undeniably XP is superior in certain areas and situations…
I use Vista exclusivley now and don’t come up against any issues, but I have stopped making exuses for the product in situations where obvious flaws are pointed out to me. When customers ask me for my recommendation I explain the pros and cons and let them make the decision for themselves, otherwise you can end up receiving the blame if the end user is not happy!
I suppose the bottom line is that XP is the safe choice, it is fast,reliable and people know it backwards.
Hi Paulie
Thanks for your feedback - I’m glad you are enjoying Vista personally and hope you are coming across the benefits of using the OS. Can you tell me about some of the flaws you are talking about when it comes to Vista? Do they include App Compat, Device Drivers or new UI being different? - these are some of the common push backs from those who don’t want to move. The first two are becoming less of an issue to be honest and we’ve done a load of work to make sure that apps work well and also devices have Vista drivers. As for the UI being different, yeah it is. Arnold Bennet said that “any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts” - but I hope you agree that the change is worth it even if it did take a little getting use to.
Like the blog too, Paul - keep up the good work.
James
James, it’ll be interesting to here what your findings are as a result of your enquiries - let us know how it goes!