A new IDC report on the impact of Windows Vista on the industry claims Microsoft"s business partners stand to benefit more financially from the operating system than Microsoft itself will in 2007. According to the report on the U.S. economic impact of Vista, for every one dollar Microsoft makes on Vista in 2007, Microsoft partners that offer software, hardware, and services related to Vista will make $18.
"If there"s a surprising thing to people, it"s how extensively a Microsoft piece of software ripples out through the ecosystem," said John Gantz, one of the IDC analysts who wrote the report. "Microsoft, as a software vendor, casts a bigger shadow than its revenues." IDC analysts Al Gillen and Marcel Warmerdam co-wrote the report, released today, which was commissioned by Microsoft. The report also says that 35 percent to 45 percent of new PCs that ship to enterprises in 2007 will run Vista. "Some thought [adoption] would move faster," Gantz said. "But to me, that"s relatively quick."