The move to Windows 2000 on the desktop will require many companies to replace most of their existing PCs, according to the new survey. For that reason, almost half of all IT departments expect to continue to run mixed-mode shops, in which different versions of several operating systems will be in use. About one-third of all companies polled in the latest InformationWeek Research survey say the requirement for additional hardware investment may cause them to delay deploying Windows 2000 on the desktop. Polaris Service Inc. will run Windows 2000 in a mixed-mode environment for the foreseeable future. For instance, the part of Active Directory that's supposed to enable NT 4.0 machines to integrate smoothly with Windows 2000 machines doesn't yet function as promised in the beta releases, says Stephen Blanchard, manager of IT at the Marlboro, Mass., firm.
Some companies are already ahead of the curve.
But even then, Gartenberg suggests that users not be too hasty. It's something you'll want to do on the server first and on the clients later. Such warnings do have some emerging enterprises moving more cautiously. Privately held New Watch Co. in Houston, for instance, will likely switch quickly, but only if Microsoft delivers on its promise of a bug-free release, says James Whitcomb, president and CEO of the company, which sells watches in stores and over the Web. But if it's not reliable, we won't go past the first step.