IDC claims users wary of Windows 2000

Resellers hoping to cash in on Microsoft's much heralded Windows 2000 operating system may have a long wait ahead before reaping rewards, after a survey claimed users have no immediate plans to upgrade.

An IDC survey of 788 user sites in the US and Canada published last week found that organisations of all types and sizes have no plans to immediately switch to the operating system, due for release in October. Many plan to wait between six and 18 months before beginning implementation.

Earlier this year, Gartner Group advised businesses not to deploy Windows 2000 at the desktop or departmental level for at least nine months after the operating system ships. It also said that larger implementations should delay take-up for about 18 months.

Giga Information Group has also warned users to wait until the operating system has stabilised, estimating it will take Microsoft between 12 and 14 months to stabilise Active Directory.

Martin Hingley, analyst at IDC, predicted that European users may wait even longer.

"If anything, European users are more conservative. They are much more concerned than US users about Year 2000 compliance," he said.

The results of the study, which are available in two reports, revealed that technical stabilisation of the operating system was one of the primary concerns of those who took part in the survey.

Hingley added that users should evaluate simple issues such as whether their versions of SAP and Lotus Notes will work with the operating system.