I read a couple of articles this morning about the reported adoption of Win 7.  One talks about how small and medium sized businesses are increasing their rates of adoption, in fact citing a 20 percent increase in the number of SMBs planning to speed up their adoption rates.  And the other reports that it took Win 7 just three months to hit the same level of adoption that it took Windows Vista a year to reach. 

Both of these reports are boosts to independent and small to medium sized technology companies around the world because they indicate that their revenue streams will have an upward direction in 2010 - and that is indeed welcome news.

When we look at the macro scale, such reports demonstrate that tech innovation does drive economic growth, starting in the tech sector and then extending to other sectors that use technology to increase productivity, bring new products to market, and so forth.  Last summer, IDC released a series of reports on the economic impact of Win 7; you can read the forecast for your region here.  On a global scale, IDC estimates the following for Win 7: 

• By the end of 2010, more than 7 million IT professionals worldwide in the IT industry and at IT using organizations will be working with Window 7, or 19% of the global IT workforce. The 350,000-plus IT companies that produce, sell, or distribute products or services running on Windows 7 will employ 3 million; another 4 million will be employed at IT-using firms.
• By the end of 2010, Microsoft partners will sell more than $320 billion in products and services revolving around Windows 7.

IDC ends the report by saying that "In the midst of an economic crisis, with most governments seeking economic stimulus to grow their economies, the launch of a major new operating system should be considered good news, a stimulus package in its own right." 

The recent news stories seem to support that conclusion.  Do you share that outlook - are you finding that customers are planning to adopt Win 7 more rapidly than you expected?  I'd be interested in your thoughts.

We'll talk again in the future.

SFS