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Windows Vista failing to attract businesses

Published: 03 Oct 2007 09:16 BST

Windows Vista is failing to attract business users, with sales of PCs preloaded with the corporate version of Microsoft's latest OS slowing.

Sales of PCs pre-installed with Vista Business accounted for 13 percent of unit PC sales among European IT distributors in August 2007 — down from 17 percent in the previous month — according to IT market researcher Context.

Twice as many PCs with Windows XP Professional — the operating system being replaced by Vista Business — were sold compared to Vista Business in August 2007, with XP Professional accounting for 27 percent of PC sales.

But XP Professional also saw poor growth, with August's figures down by four percent compared to the previous month, the Context research reveals.

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A Microsoft spokeswoman said that Vista is on track to be the fastest-selling operating system in Microsoft's history across a broad range of customers, "from the individual user and the small business to the largest enterprise customer".

Microsoft recently announced it would continue selling PCs preloaded with its previous operating system, Windows XP, for five months longer than originally planned, but maintained that Vista sales are still going strong.

Vista Business launched on 30 November 2006, closely followed by the consumer rollout on 30 January 2007.