Survey Finds IT Professionals Will Delay Vista Upgrades; Respondents Cite Compatibility Concerns.

New Study Reveals Most IT Professionals Unsure of Vista's "User Access Control" Feature for Defense-in-Depth Security

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Microsoft's Windows Vista has been the company's most eagerly awaited operating system launch in the past decade. According to the results of the international survey, "A Survey of Vista Upgrade Plans," while the vast majority of IT professionals plan to upgrade their desktops to Windows Vista in the next year, primarily for improved security, most are wary of trusting solely Microsoft to keep their desktops secure, and are uncertain of their plans to adopt one of Vista's key security features.

The survey was commissioned by Bit9, provider of the easiest and most effective way to achieve lockdown on Windows desktops, and was conducted by Zoomerang over a one-week period. One-hundred thirty-seven IT professionals completed the survey.

The survey revealed that 68 percent of IT professionals will upgrade to Windows Vista, although not right away--58 percent plan to wait six months to one year following its launch, and 10 percent will roll out the upgrade within six months. Respondents cited software compatibility concerns (38 percent), hardware compatibility concerns (17 percent), a desire to wait for "bugs" to work themselves out (7 percent) and security concerns (6 percent). With higher-end hardware a necessity to reap the full benefits of Vista, 59 percent of respondents will be replacing their PCs, with 43 percent adding RAM and 27 percent upgrading graphics cards.

Security A Motivating Factor--But IT is Wary of Microsoft as a Sole Provider

When asked to name their Top 3 reasons for implementing Windows Vista, 59 percent cited "improved security" as one of their Top 3 reasons for switching to the new operating system, followed by "a desire to use the latest and greatest technology" (44 percent) and "enforce compliance" (29 percent).

Interestingly, though, while increased security is a major selling point of Vista, only seven percent of those surveyed feel "completely" comfortable with Microsoft's client security. Forty-two percent prefer alternative offerings, but will evaluate Microsoft; seventeen percent say they would "never" feel comfortable totally relying on Microsoft for security.

Wariness of User Access Control to Limit Administrative Rights

Most respondents were unsure of their plans to utilize Vista's "User Access Control," a highly-touted element of Microsoft's defense-in-depth strategy for Vista. Eighty-one percent of IT professionals say they are unsure if they will use it; 14 percent plan to use the UAC, and 4 percent do not.

To limit the ability of users and software to damage the computing environment, Microsoft is actively encouraging desktop managers to run their Vista users as standard users, removing their administrative rights. However, most organizations will allow some users to run as exceptions to standard user--nearly 70 percent will provide administrative rights to IT, with exceptions being granted to software development (35 percent), and, interesting, non-IT executives (34 percent). These findings map to a 2006 survey from Bit9 which found that thirty-eight percent of IT managers have allowed more than half of their end users to maintain administrative rights on their machines.

About The "Vista Upgrade Survey"

The "Vista Upgrade Survey" is an international survey designed to provide insight into how IT departments are planning to approach and manage upgrades to the Windows Vista operating system. The ten-question survey was completed over a one-week period by 137 IT professionals who were invited to participate by Zoomerang, an online survey services provider. A Research Brief providing detailed information on the findings is available at www.bit9.com/resources.

About Bit9, Inc.

Bit9, Inc., the leading provider of desktop lockdown solutions, centrally controls which applications can and cannot run. Bit9's award-winning, patent-pending technology delivers the easiest and most effective way to achieve application control, enabling IT professionals to realize the highest levels of desktop security and compliance. Founded in 2002 by the founders of Okena (acquired by Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO)) and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Bit9 is a privately held company. For more information, http://www.bit9.com.

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