Windows Vista for the enterprise: Windows Vista facts

1) Most secure operating system

In the first half of calendar year 2008, Windows Vista had 23% fewer vulnerabilities than Windows XP, and 21% fewer high-severity vulnerabilities.

During 2007, Windows Vista had half the number of critical vulnerabilities than Windows XP Service Pack 2 did during the same period.

PCs running Windows Vista in 2007 were 60 percent less likely to be infected by malware than those running Windows XP SP2.

Our customers appreciate the protection provided by UAC; in fact, the number of users who leave UAC on or turn it back on is growing, and currently stands at 88%.

The phishing filter in Internet Explorer 7—which is included with Windows Vista—stops about 1 million phishing attempts every week. Additionally, 10K phishing sites are added to the list every week.

2) Performance

Windows Vista with SP1 and Windows XP SP2 perform comparably on most business tasks. Example: Windows Vista SP1 copies files up to 50 percent more quickly.

Comparative testing of Windows Vista and Windows Vista SP1 shows improvement in the time it takes to decompress the contents of a large folder by as much as 71 percent.

3) Application compatibility

More than 240 major enterprise applications remediated, unblocking over 5 million seats.

98 of the top 100 applications for Windows sold at retail in the US last year in the categories of finance, business, system utilities, imaging, graphics, personal productivity, and education are compatible with Windows Vista.

4) Hardware compatibility

More than 77,000 components and devices are supported by Windows Vista SP1, twice the number we supported at launch.

From the Windows Vista Compatibility Center, the following are compatible with Windows Vista: more than 2,000 printers, 220 scanners, 135 webcams, 485 digital cameras, and 180 media players.

5) Environmental impact

Migrating 10 PCs with CRTs to Windows Vista with power management = 1 car off the road. (299 KB Word document)

6) Total cost of ownership

Studies show $251/PC in cost savings on mobile PCs; $605 with best practices and MDOP. (2.32 MB PDF)

Gartner's perspective on the average value to customers of the features of Windows Vista Enterprise: BitLocker, MUI, licensing rights to 4 virtual OS, Subsystem for Unix-based Applications (SUA) = $341.

7) Deployment

Deployment of Windows Vista is on track for a faster rate of deployment than Windows XP and Windows 2000.

8) Satisfaction

"83% of Windows Vista users are likely to recommend a Windows Vista–based computer to their friends or family who are looking to buy a new computer."

"89% of Windows Vista users are satisfied with Vista."

9) Customer adoption

Deloitte Netherlands: Firm Deploys Operating System in Four Weeks, Improves Mobility and Security

Continental Airlines: Continental Airlines Bets on Operating System Upgrade for Reduced IT and Energy Costs

Garanti Technology (Turkey): Operating System Upgrade Helps Lower Costs and Enhances Security for Technology Leader

Garanti Technology is an industry leader in banking and financial services. It maintains a competitive edge by adopting the latest technology and building creative solutions to meet its customers' needs. Following that mission, Garanti Technology is testing an upgrade to Windows Vista using a Zero Touch Installation approach.

For more customer adoption case studies, visit: www.microsoft.com/casestudies/search.aspx?ProTaxID=3049

10) Analyst support

Industry analysts agree that skipping Windows Vista is a bad idea.

Gartner says: "Skipping versions of Windows entirely generally increases the risk of having unsupported applications running on selected operating systems"; hence, their recommendation is: "Don't skip Windows Vista entirely."