CPA firms have been discussing the transition from Windows XP to Windows Vista for the past year, but few, if any, have actually made the switch beyond testing a few workstations.  Microsoft initially targeted January 29, 2008 as the drop dead date to be able to purchase Windows XP Professional from an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) or in a retail store, with system builders having availability through January 31, 2009.  This put firms in a situation to possibly push up the purchase of Windows XP machines this year, rather than dealing with a new operating system during the busy season.  Fortunately, Microsoft recently extended the OEM availability date five months to June 30, 2008, in effect buying firms some time to plan their transition between the end of busy season and that date, where it will be clearer as to the impact of a Vista transition.  With the pressure off, firms are expected to continue to standardize on Windows XP, but to buy machines that are capable of effectively running Windows Vista when the conversion occurs.

We feel that the Vista transition will be similar to virtually every other Windows transition before it, in that once the first service pack has been released and usage has stabilized with accounting vendors, firms will transition as they replace new workstations.  The big difference this time around is that the requirements to run the new operating system in the CPA firm environment are somewhat higher with recommendations of at least two Gigabytes of RAM and a 256Mb video graphics card.  While newer workstations may be cost-effectively updated, the cost of upgrading older laptops will be significantly more, causing them to most likely stick with Windows XP until those laptops are naturally replaced at the end of their projected three-year life cycle.  This will tend to extend the period in which IT personnel are supporting two operating systems, but will be more cost effective than forcing everyone to Vista in one fell swoop.  As in IT person, supporting two operating systems and the corresponding issues that may pop up between them is far from the optimal situation, but because the capital requirements are higher, firms will probably slow the transition and live with it. 

As Microsoft has now delayed the requirement five months, it is possible that they will be in a position to do so again, which would further delay the transition to Vista, but for the mean time, we can breathe a little easier on worrying about making that decision until after the busy season.

Roman H. Kepczyk, CPA.CITP is President of InfoTech Partners North America, Inc. and works exclusively with accounting firms to implement today’s digital best practices.  

InfoTech Partners North America, Inc.
13656 South 37th Place
Phoenix, AZ 85044-4531
Phone: (480) 706-1728
Fax/Voicemail: (480) 718-8880
Email: roman@itpna.com
Web Site: www.itpna.com

We are in business to service and act on behalf of our clients. Please review our Privacy Statement and Declaration of Integrity. For comments regarding this website, please email ITPartner@itpna.com or call (480) 706-1728. All information presented here is the opinion of InfoTech Partners North America Inc. or the respective authors of the various articles and is not to be construed as legal or technical advice. Please consult your lawyer or technical person for specific utilization.