Usually, best meant biggest or most complex, as more features were added. Thankfully, Windows 7 took a step back along those lines and in doing so, Microsoft took a step forward.

Now we can look forward to the Windows 8 operating system, according to CEO Steve Ballmer, CNET reports. But really, do we need another version of Windows? Windows 7 should be the foundation on which modular upgrades can advance the platform for a long time to come. A whole new version seems like overkill at this point.

Windows 7, which is just starting to be deployed in earnest in enterprises now that the first service pack has been shipped, should be considered the “last” PC operating system. With mobile phones and tablets fast becoming the preferred computing interface, why should Microsoft, developers, PC and component makers — and, most of all, users — waste the time and money embracing another generation?

Ballmer went on to say that Windows 8 will run on “slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors.” OK, but this will not be as easy as it sounds. Unlike the desktop market, Microsoft does not own the mobile operating system market: Apple and Google do. And they will continue to do so because they have the one thing that Microsoft always had in their pocket for Windows: developers, developers, developers, developers.

Did I mention that Ballmer said Windows 8 will debut in 2012? Gulp.

These days, an XP migration to Windows 7 feels inevitable. Vista just didn’t cut it, but Windows 7 is promising to take away the things that aggravated you about Vista, and has features that make your life easier. With Windows 7, you get improved management, security and reliability features: AppLocker, BitLocker, BranchCache and an improved user interface, just to name a few features.

You also get tools that Microsoft has developed to address some of the application compatibility problems, tools like Shims that target specific compatibility problems with applications when moving from XP to Windows 7.

Gartner estimates that it will take 12 to 18 months to plan your migration: gathering information about applications and hardware, testing and remediation and piloting, while some software vendors will stop supporting Windows XP in 2012.

Between the potential lack of support for XP on the part of some software and hardware vendors by 2012 and the end of extended XP support in 2014, Gartner analyst Stephen Kleynhans said time is running out. “It’s like we are test crash dummies heading for a wall,” he said during a recent webcast on migrating to Windows 7.

But I’d like to hear from you about your XP migration plans. Does the 2014 end to extended support make a difference to your plans, and how long do you think your XP migration will take?

ctorode@techtarget.com.

In a recent report by IDC, an impressive number of midsized companies migrating to Windows 7 say they realized a full return on their investment in just seven months. The migration also helped significantly reduce the time help desks spend dealing with malware downtime and reboots by replacing Windows XP and Windows Vista.

One midsized company says the money saved in migrating to Windows 7 has allowed it to hire some much-needed developers.

“Windows 7 gave us more cash to work with because we could throw it on a couple of hundred older PCs, so we didn’t have to buy new ones. Those savings will let us hire a couple of young developers to work on some internal applications we need pushed out,” said Joe Harmon, an IT purchasing agent with a midsized regional health care provider in western New York state. “I was surprised. Microsoft usually costs me money with some of their licensing plans.”

Costs were down in three important labor categories analyzed in the report: IT labor hours per PC, per year for deployment (down 45%); IT labor hours per PC, per year for service desk support (down 65; and IT labor hours per PC, per year for PC and operating system support (down 55%). In the 14 categories where a set of common end-user activities relating to the operation of Windows 7 was measured, savings resulted in 43 hours of productivity per year, per user.

Like IT professionals at other midmarket companies, Harmon also migrated to Windows 7 because Microsoft’s technical support for Windows XP, which includes regular delivery of security patches, is ending. Harmon said the built-in security in Windows 7 is superior to that of Windows XP, so he won’t be as reliant on security patches.

It’s nice to hear that some financial relief has finally arrived for SMBs, given how the Great Recession has ravaged them.

For the most part, midmarket IT shops currently running XP are in no rush to upgrade to Windows 7. The clean-install process and the associated upgrade costs are among the reasons. Plus, in most IT shops, XP SP3 is a solid operating system.

How much will maintaining the system actually end up costing you? Concerns include Microsoft putting all of its resources behind Vista and Windows 7, grappling with known XP security flaws, losing application developers who will design for XP and Microsoft ending extended security support in April 2014. These hang-ups are proving difficult to ignore.

And Windows 7 is a big step up. It’s fast, compatible with today’s hardware and software and optimized for solid-state drive hardware and multi-core processors. But I’m interested in what IT managers are most interested in — and what would entice them to take the plunge in the near future.

But that raises the next question: When is the right time to migrate? Are you building your upgrade strategy around your hardware refresh cycle? It sounds good in theory — during hardware upgrades, just move to Windows 7. But, the end-user training would be disruptive, and how often do midmarket organizations do a big-bang companywide PC refresh, anyway? Not that often. Businesses are holding onto machines for longer periods of time, replacing them one by one. If you don’t go all out at once, can you afford to maintain two systems?

Or is everyone waiting to see what Microsoft has in store for the upcoming Windows 7 Service Pack?

Decisions, decisions….

What are some of your thoughts and concerns about the inevitable move away from Windows XP, and how (and when) do you plan on tackling it? Comment here or shoot me an email.

Now some XP users told our reporter Christina Torode that they’re sitting tight (see Windows XP users weigh dwindling support vs. Windows 7 migration). Some expect Microsoft will extend those Windows XP support deadlines due to customer pressure. I’ve certainly met many more midmarket CIOs who remain with XP than those who have gone through a Vista migration. Very few see anything worth migrating for.

Yet if Microsoft sunsets XP as planned, they’ll all have some re-engineering to do. Windows 7 is built on the same kernel as Vista, so if your apps won’t work on Vista, you’ve only bought yourself some time, not a pass on re-engineering. Unless, of course, you are going to explore some Microsoft alternatives.

So XP users, unite: Are you going to clamor for extended support? Plan for a Windows 7 migration now? Start to work in Vista machines as you upgrade your hardware, as one analyst recommends in our article on migration tips? Go Linux? Let’s discuss.