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Now that Microsoft has finally set a date for Windows 7 in 2010, and since Windows XP is proving to be more stable than Vista, it seems to make more sense to avoid Vista altogether, keep Windows XP, and just wait until Windows 7.

OS changes and upgrades are a major hassle for enterprises according to Reza Zarafshar, president and CEO of Advanced Computer Concepts. While this statement holds true, no one says that enterprises necessarily have to go through the hassle of adopting every change and upgrade. Avoiding some upgrades may be a better option. Let’s take the case of Vista.

Vista adoption rate prior to date-release disclosure of Windows 7

In a survey conducted by CDW Corporation of 753 IT decision makers on Vista adoption, 1% of respondents stated that their organizations had completed upgraded to Vista, 19% planned to upgrade within the next 12 months, 6% planned to upgrade beyond 12 months, 13% planned to start rolling out Vista next year, and about 48% had no firm plan to upgrade.

The survey shows that many enterprises are unsure about Vista. As IT managers consider issues like application compatibility, a lack of drivers, and the absence of a service pack, Vista adoption poses more challenges than any of its predecessor.

Is it worth moving to Vista?

Up until now, Vista doesn’t support a significant number of applications, including some that are critical to business operation. Many hardware manufacturers also haven’t yet released drivers that support Vista. And up until now enterprisesnext year or in 2009 before implementing Vista. are waiting for the release of a more stable Vista release (SP1)

The resolution of application compatibility and driver issues to Vista may come too late. While application compatibility and driver issues should not be a big concern in one or two years from now, Vista deployment by that time may be less beneficial, especially if the enterprise has found no compelling reason to move over to Vista, especially if Windows 7 is on the horizon.

Another good reason for not jumping to Vista is the unclear benefits it offers to the enterprises. Vista maybe a nice new operating system with good features but overall it is not proving to be a “demand creator” for PC buyer, says Reza Zarafshar.

Is Windows XP worth holding on?

During the past six months there have been many reports about Vista’s failure to win over XP users. According to a NetApplications report in June Windows XP has a market share of 84.33%, while Vista has a market share 4.52 percent. This is strong indication that Windows XP users ate happy with what they’ve got.

The failure of Vista to win over XP users caused Microsoft to adjust its 2008 fiscal year sales forecast for its operating systems by increasing XP by nearly 50% and decreasing Vista by about 8 percent. The adjustments simply indicate that XP is still more popular than Microsoft expected it would be after the release of Vista.

In April, Dell stepped back from exclusively offering Vista machines and said: “We heard you loud and clear on bringing the Windows XP option back to our Dell consumer PC offerings”.

Advanced Computer Concepts, a solution provider, has similar experience with Dell by saying: “We have customers ordering large numbers of brand new laptops and desktops and specifically saying they don’t want Vista.”

And more recently, Acer president Gianfranco Lanci went even further by saying “The whole industry is disappointed with Windows Vista.”

Is Windows 7 worth waiting for?

At the time of writing, Microsoft has shared very little information about Windows 7. The coming OS will have 32-bit and 64-bit versions with different flavors targeting home and business customers. The company is also considering a subscription-based concept.

It’s expected that Windows 7 will be released within three years time. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has vowed that Microsoft will never take so long to develop a new version of Windows as it did to produce Vista.

Since Windows Vista was such a big disappointment, you’d think that Microsoft might try harder to make Windows 7 a little more compelling. So my advice is to save yourself the hassle of upgrading, and wait to see whether Windows 7 offers something that might actually be useful.

If Windows 7 turns to be another disappointment, then it may be that Microsoft will have to rethink its approach to operating systems.