While Windows 8’s new Metro interface promises a fresh look for longtime Windows users, a new survey from Forrester Research finds that only about 33% of the companies it surveyed plan to update to Microsoft’s (MSFT) new operating system. About 40% surveyed said they haven’t considered Windows 8 yet and 10% plan to skip it entirely. The drop in the percentage of companies planning to update is staggering compared to companies that planned to update to Windows 7 in 2009, notes the Wall Street Journal. According to the Journal, “At the same point before Windows 7 was released in 2009, two-thirds of companies surveyed said they planned to migrate to Windows 7, and 28% said they hadn’t yet considered Windows 7 or planned to skip it.”

The Wall Street Journal says there is plausible reason why many companies aren’t updating to Windows 8 aside from the user obvious interface changes. It’s a simple matter of business, really: most companies have already spent millions of dollars updating to Windows 7, and moving up to Windows 8 so soon doesn’t make sense from a financial standpoint.

Does that mean Windows 8 won’t be hit? Absolutely not. It merely means Microsoft is weaning itself off relying on the business and enterprise market for its profits and going more after the consumer market.

[Via The Verge]

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