As a web developer I have a vested interest in Windows 7 being a success. Now I should also mention that I am a bit of a “Apple fanboy”. So why do I want Microsoft’s next operating system to be a success?
As this post on Sitepoint displays, the average internet user doesn’t even now what a browser is. Combine this with the fact that many people refuse to upgrade to Vista means that the default web browser is still running on many machines out there and doesn’t hope to be upgraded until the operating system is upgraded. For “joe public”, on the whole, it is a case of them buying a new computer. For corporate, that is a case of IT departments giving the go ahead for and installing a new operating system.
To add to this problem Digg recently posted a discussion of whether they should support IE6 with some results of surveying they have been doing that states that 70% of their users can’t upgrade to IE6 as it is out of their control. So 70% of the minority that know what a browser is and knows there is an alternative, aren’t allow to do anything about it.
I am currently finishing a project that will be primarily run in government departments. Over 75% of computers in this area are running IE6 with of course, Windows XP. With this in mind I have been praying for Windows 7 to be a success.
Currently around 25% of my html/css time is taken up with making IE6 display everything correctly. When you think of the total hours involved here, I could be so much more productive is IE6 would just lay down and die.
So you can imagine my dismay when I read this article on Macworld this morning, stating the of 1,100 IT administrators surveyed, 59.3% aren’t going to be adopting Windows 7. Of course the “fanboy” in me goes: “YEAH!”. However the web developer in me is crying and unfortunately it is the later that is winning my internal emotional struggle. Of course it is early days. The OS hasn’t even been released yet and most of the participants in the survey probably haven’t had a chance to do too much playing with it but I am still greatly concerned.