IT Facing Mixed Windows and Browser Environment

IT professionals will have to contend with a mixed bag of different versions of Windows and different browsers as we move forward, according to a new report from Forrester (News - Alert) Research.

For its new report, Forrester analyzed the operating system and browser on more 400,000 client PCs across more than 2,500 different companies between the second quarters of 2010 and 2011. As a result, the research firm found growing deployments of Windows 7 but also a greater use of desktop virtualization and an increase in a “bring-your-own” device approach that “threatens” to sneak more diversity into the homogeneous world of Windows.

Looking at the OS through March 2011, Windows 7 was discovered on almost 21 percent of corporate desktops as the rollouts continue to increase. Windows Vista, which held a 14 percent share in November 2009, now accounts for around half that as the corporate world jumps to Windows 7 SP1.

With Microsoft (News - Alert) phasing out support for Windows XP in another three years, the ten-year-old operating system is still the most popular one, found on almost 60 percent of all corporate desktops, down from 68.6 percent just a year ago. Forrester advises companies still running XP to ramp up their upgrade plans by performing compatibility testing at least six months before any official rollout and create a business strategy by mapping out the budget, time, and resources required for the migration.

The Mac is also enjoying greater adoption in the corporate world, providing yet another platform for IT to support (or not support as the case may be). Forrester advises companies that plan to support the Mac to make sure their client management and security software are compatible with Apple’s (News - Alert) OS.

The browser also promises to be another area where IT is being called upon to support a diverse lineup. The use of Internet Explorer among the corporate PCs analyzed by Forrester is now at 58.7 percent as the adoption of Firefox and Chrome has increased. However, Internet Explorer 8 is still proving popular, especially among companies that are upgrading from XP to Windows 7 and leaving IE6 behind. Forrester urges businesses that still need to run Web-based apps designed for IE6 to run them in virtualization mode for now.

Firefox accounts for almost 17.8 percent of the corporate browser market, thanks to its wide range of add-ons designed to simplify and automated certain tasks. Google’s (News - Alert) Chrome has also caught on, grabbing 14 percent of the corporate browser market, a number that Forrester expects to continue to rise. Finally, Apple’s Safari holds a 9 percent share among corporate users, thanks to the increased use of the Mac and demand for the iPhone (News - Alert) and iPad.

Overall, most companies will march on to Windows 7 over the next year as support starts to run out on XP. But even as Windows 7 becomes the dominant OS, IT will still have to deal with an increasingly diverse environment highlighted by tablets and other devices and software in demand among end-users. Forrester advises firms caught in this situation to rely on desktop and application virtualization to ensure that their corporate standards remain relatively unaffected and their security requirements are still met.