Windows 7 will run on approximately 42 percent of PCs around the world by the end of 2011, according to a new report from Gartner.

One reason cited for this increase is steady improvements in IT budgets in 2010 and 2011, and a "large volume" of Windows 7 migrations initiated in Q4 of fiscal 2010. On the latter point, Gartner Research Director Annette Jump, in a statement, noted: "Many enterprises have been planning their deployment of Windows 7 for the last 12 to 18 months, and are now moving rapidly to Windows 7."

While an increase in Windows 7 is certainly good news for Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), there is no doubt that the number of Windows XP systems remain disproportionately high. My suggestion two weeks ago that businesses may be too cheap or lazy to upgrade drew a flurry of comments and feedback--many of them reflecting unhappy sentiments and the real reasons why they are not upgrading from Windows XP.

On that front, it is interesting to note Gartner's opinion that Windows 7 is likely to be the last operating system from Microsoft deployed in such numbers. Gartner attributes this prediction to the rise of "OS-agnostic" applications for enterprises, meaning software not tied to a particular platform. According to Jump, OS-agnostic applications are expected to reach 50% of apps in 2012.

For more:
- check out this article at Computerworld
- check out this article at PCWorld
- check out this article at TG Daily

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