Companies Bypass Microsoft Vista

Companies like General Motors and Alaska Airlines are considering bypassing Microsoft’s latest operating system. Facing problems getting Vista to work on its computers, GM may simply wait for Windows 7, due in 2010 or 2011. Consumer hesitation on Vista finally hurt Microsoft in the last quarter, when profits slipped 11% due to a drop in the desktop Windows group’s sales, reports BusinessWeek.

Still, Microsoft says it has sold 140 million copies of Vista as of the end of March—meaning a comparable percentage of PCs now run Vista as ran XP at the same point in its lifetime. This includes consumers who get Vista automatically when they buy a new computer and businesses that are entitled to Vista, whether or not they use it. (More Microsoft stories.)