A majority of enterprises have migrated to Windows 7 or are planning to do so. But for Windows XP holdouts ready to side-step Windows 7 for the upcoming Windows 8 OS, you are risking a gap in support, stresses research firm Gartner in a new "first take" analysis of Windows 8 migration in the enterprise.

Kingston introduces Earth Angel USB Drive in Australia

Windows 7 has finally assumed its rightful place on the desktop operating system throne -- usurping Windows XP for the first time. Granted, Windows 7 reign only covers the United States, but it is still a significant milestone on the path to becoming the number one OS globally.

Rerun of lawsuit tossed by federal judge last February

Can we talk? Based on the e-mail I get every day, I know a lot of you are still using Windows XP. I can understand why; it's like a comfortable old shoe. Plus, it's bought and paid for. Windows 7 probably seems stiff and scary, and it's not like Microsoft is handing out free upgrades.

Microsoft’s latest operating system Windows 7 has been out for more than a year, but Australia’s Federal Parliament will ignore the release in the short term and is instead in the process of upgrading to its much-maligned predecessor, Windows Vista.

If you are happy with Windows 7 on your personal laptop, but grumble every time Windows XP boots up on your work computer, it may be time to tap your company's IT pro on the shoulder and ask for Windows 7. You might be surprised at the response you get.

Happy birthday! Windows 7 is one year old. Microsoft has sold more than 240 million copies of Windows 7 (an average of more than seven units per second for the entire year the OS has been available), but it still has a way to go to eclipse Windows XP. Fortunately for Microsoft, as successful as Windows 7 has been, it appears to be gaining momentum.

If Microsoft wants Windows 7 to succeed, to do better than limp like Vista, it has to convince the majority of users to ditch their comfortable-as-an-old-shoe -- older than an old shoe, actually -- OS.

A year ago today, Microsoft pulled the plug on Windows XP, no longer selling new copies in most venues. The June 30 kill date for XP followed a six-month outcry from users about Windows Vista, with demands that Microsoft keep XP available alongside Vista for the many users who were frustrated by ease-of-use, compatibility, and retraining issues.

Corporate migration to Windows 7 may be less about evaluating the new Microsoft operating system and more about how to properly gauge the correct time to get XP off client desktops.

The writing is on the wall. Despite a major push to sell the much-maligned Windows Vista, customers aren't buying. Nearly two years after Vista's release, Windows XP remains the standard desktop OS in business, and Microsoft has extended its availability three times (currently to August 2009) due to customer demand. Microsoft itself forecasts just 2 percent growth in Vista sales in early 2009, after lackluster sales in 2008. And that's after forcing customers to buy Vista to get XP "downgrades."

June 25, 1998, and June 30, 2008, marked two important milestones in Microsoft's evolution of the Windows OS -- the passing of the torch from Windows 95 to Windows 98, and the less seemly transition from XP to Vista.