Report: Windows 2000 sales surge

According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the long-awaited acceleration of Windows 2000 sales has begun. The research company recently released a report stating that sales of Windows 2000 will eclipse Windows NT 4 by the end of the year and that adoption rates of the OS will surpass those of NT4. Number-wise, the biggest gains have been seen with Windows 2000 Professional, the business desktop version of Windows 2000. But Windows 2000 Server sales will more than triple in the next twelve months and overtake NT 4 Server by the end of 2001 as well, IDC says.

"While some financial analysts have expressed concern about the slow uptake of Windows 2000, IDC's modeling shows adoption of Windows 2000 progressing at a relatively healthy pace," the company said in a statement. And IDC's Al Gillen notes that, "the majority of the transition to Windows 2000 is taking place now and will continue for the next 12 to 18 months." This is good news for Microsoft, certainly, but the slow transition to Windows 2000 shouldn't have been surprising, as corporations tend to upgrade on their own schedules, and don't march to the beat of Redmond's release cycle.

Windows 2000 Professional now accounts for 40 percent of all NT/2000 desktop sales, but IDC says that figure will jump to more than 72 percent by the end of 2001. And Windows 2000 Server sales will jump to 56 percent of all Windows Server sales, up from 16 percent for this year and 35 percent for December. The faster success of Professional isn't surprising, says IDC, because the desktop version includes a number of technologies that can be more easily used by desktop and laptop users, such as power management, support for newer hardware like USB, a friendlier user interface, and plug and play capabilities. Most corporations have been upgrading their desktops to Professional first and tackling the tougher Server upgrade at a later date when all of the migration issues have been resolved. Microsoft released Windows 2000 to manufacturing just about a year ago, on December 14, 1999