27% of IT Pros Plan To Deploy Windows 8 on Tablets and/or Smartphones Within 12 Months, New InformationWeek Reports Research Finds

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- InformationWeek Reports (http://reports.informationweek.com), a service provider for peer-based IT research and analysis, announced the release of its latest research report. Windows 8 Survival Guide: End Users and Mobility encompasses analysis of results from InformationWeek's recent Windows 8 Survey and guides readers in evaluating the usability of Microsoft's dramatically new OS on PCs, tablets and smartphones.  More than 850 business technology professionals responded to this poll.  

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Research Summary:

Windows 8 brings integrated touch screen support; a faster, redesigned browser; and built-in cloud storage. However, the biggest change is a dramatically new user interface, formerly Metro and now dubbed "Modern UI." According to the 452 respondents upgrading to Windows 8, not everyone is excited: 37% say they like (27%) or love (10%) the UI compared with 34% who are indifferent (21%), dislike it (9%) or outright hate it (4%).

Findings: 

• 91% of our survey respondents run Windows 7 on some of their PCs, which is not surprising. However, 76% are still clinging to XP even as formal support is poised to end.
• 55% of respondents using mobile device management systems say their MDM vendors have not revealed plans to support Windows 8 vs. just 7% with stated timelines.
• 45% say the new UI will make them more likely to run Windows 8 on tablets.
• 29% of respondent organizations' smartphones currently run RIM BlackBerry; that is expected to drop to 15% by 2014.

The report author, Kurt Marko, is editor-at-large for InformationWeek Reports and an InformationWeek and Network Computing contributor.

For full access to the research data, members can download now: http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/7/9007/Enterprise-Software/windows-8-survival-guide-end-users-and-mobility.html?cid=rpt_press_rls

"The new touch-based interface is going to be a shock to some end users' systems," says Lorna Garey, content director of InformationWeek Reports. "Thirteen percent of respondents say they will not deploy Win8 unless they can turn Modern UI off. Microsoft has some bad news for them."

For more information:
Art Wittmann    
VP & Managing Director, InformationWeek Reports
415-947-6361
awittmann@techweb.com

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