This just in: According to a recent survey by Technologizer.com, early adopters of Windows 7 are a happy lot. That’s a 180 from the Vista mess, and it’s good news for Microsoft, not to mention corporate IT departments.

Eighty-four percent said their switchovers “went off without meaningful hiccups.”

For the survey, which was conducted mid-November, more than 550 early adopters were asked about their upgrade processes. Of them, 84 percent said their switchovers “went off without meaningful hiccups.” (Of the users surveyed, 46 percent upgraded from Vista and 32 percent from XP.)

This is significant, writes Technologizer founder Harry McCracken, considering the fact that when XP was rolled out, a PC World study found that more than half of those who upgraded reported installation difficulties.

And then there’s the issue of the actual product and its usability. Windows 7 fares OK there as well. According to the survey, 79 percent of those who upgraded from Vista reported that they are “extremely satisfied” with 7; 61 percent of XP users feel the same.

It’s not all good news, however. Users are having problems with two main issues in Windows 7: missing drivers and application incompatibility – both of which were expected. Read more…

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People inside Microsoft have openly related a story about Bill Gates’ initial evaluation of Office 2007. He congratulated them on a number of new features, but the additions weren’t exactly fresh; they were introduced with Office 97.

Hearing about Gates acting human is always a pleasure, but why would anyone at Microsoft admit that he didn’t know about features that had been a part of one of his company’s premier products for 10 years? (Another question: How is it that they still work there?)

The answer is simple: Office 2007 does what it was designed to do. That is, to make it easier for users to find features that were buried in previous versions’ meandering menu structures. It turned Gates into a guinea pig, enlightening him about product functionality he didn’t know existed, even though he had undoubtedly seen it before.

But the redesign’s success brings two new challenges to help desks, which they didn’t face with earlier Office upgrades.

The first is bringing users up to speed. The new interface renders even the most perceptive employees helpless when trying to complete tasks they’ve done for years. Read more…

admin Office 2007, Office 2007 Migration Assurance Program, Outsourcing, ROI Bill Gates, guinea pigs, migration, Office 97, upgrade