The enterprise version of Windows Vista is now available, but many companies will not immediately discard XP and upgrade to Microsofts latest operating system.
Thats the consensus of chief information officers and consultants who have been evaluating Vista in recent months.
Most big companies will wait at least a year before deploying Vista to make sure the operating system is stable and that third-party applications work well with it, the beta testers say.
Five years in the making, Vista is, among other things, Microsofts attempt to address the security holes in its previous operating systems.
By adding features for blocking unauthorized Internet downloads and automating encryption of hard drives, Microsoft hopes to curtail the viruses plaguing corporate XP users and mitigate the impact of laptop theft.