Windows 7: Another Reason to Dread the Holidays

Microsoft's new operating system, due for release in late October, will hit many small business owners' wallets in many different ways

By Gene Marks

It's not even summer yet and if you're like me you're already dreading the holidays. I've never been a big fan of the holiday season, and this year is going to be worse—a lot worse—than most, especially for small business owners like me.

Let me share a few reasons why.

For starters, there's the usual flurry of bonuses to give out—special paychecks to employees; gifts to customers; and cash for armies of service providers, including trash collectors, newspaper deliverers, and mail carriers who materialize out of thin air at year's end. Even the IRS wants an estimated payment around the holidays. Then there's the endless stream of parties and other unproductive events that generate zero revenue yet cost me a ton.

Windows' Bells and Whistles

But the main reason I'm worrying about the holidays now is Microsoft's (MSFT) recent announcement that it plans to release Windows 7, the successor to its three-year-old Vista operating system, at the end of October. This will be in "plenty of time for the holidays," the company says. Humbug.

Microsoft has put all sorts of great features in this newest release. There will be advances in touch and handwriting recognition; support for virtual hard disks; a redesigned calculator; more administrative tools; significantly enhanced security—the list goes on.

But many of these things won't matter much to small business owners. We're still quite happy with eight-year-old Windows XP. We're not gamers. We're not bloggers. We're not tools. We're just not that into all those enhancements. Maybe at home. But at the office, most of us just want something simple that works.

This time, though, we're not going to be given a choice. Microsoft got bruised with Windows Vista and it's trying to avoid a repeat. For now, Microsoft is putting up with both Windows XP and Vista until Windows 7 is released. But as soon as the new operating system hits the street, you can be sure both XP and Vista will be shown the door quickly. I know that Microsoft is "pledging" support for XP through 2014, but I predict its backing of both XP and Vista will be quietly curtailed. I get the feeling that all efforts will be focused on pushing the world onto Windows 7 as a "much better solution." For Microsoft, not for me.

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