Windows 7, the new operating system that software giant Microsoft Corp. plans to release worldwide next week, is getting much more positive reviews from business computer experts here than its predecessor, Windows Vista, which many companies never adopted.

Dylan Pegoraro, information-technology (IT) support manager at Liberty Lake-based Itron Inc., a maker of automated meter-reading technology, says the Windows 7 operating system looks promising, and Itron might start switching to it from the Windows XP operating system next year.

Nick Estes, systems engineer with Spokane-based TROI LLC, which does business as TROI IT Solutions, says even the Vista critics in his industry are impressed with the stability of Windows 7.

"Windows 7 is what Vista should have been," Estes says.

Connie Gould, IT manager at Infusion Information Technology LLC, of Spokane, says she expects Windows 7 to gain more widespread acceptance eventually than Vista has in the business community—especially for those who are due for new equipment and software.

Avista Corp., the Spokane-based energy company, uses the Windows XP operating system and likely will bypass Vista and adopt Windows 7, says Jim Corder, Avista's IT director.

Avista held off on adopting the Vista platform because of compatibility problems with its industry-specific computer applications, he says.

"If software companies can get their applications working on Windows 7 before we lose support for XP, we would likely go directly to Windows 7," Corder says.

Jason Pitts, an Avista systems engineer who's on a team that's testing Windows 7, says the new system feels less cumbersome and more responsive than Vista.

Pitts says the team has begun to size up how much effort it will take to deploy Windows 7 and when to do so.

Corder says Avista probably will phase in the new operating system as it buys new computers and associated hardware, beginning next year. Avista has about 1,200 desktop and laptop computers in use companywide, and replaces up to a third of them every year.

Itron's Pegoraro says the general rule of thumb for adopting a new operating system is to buy it after its first major update—also called a service pack—which addresses initial kinks in the original software release. Testing has gone so well with Windows 7, however, that rule might not apply, he says.

"Confidence in 7 is much higher," Pegoraro says. "We might see more enterprise users adopt it early on."

He didn't feel that way about Windows Vista, which Microsoft released in January 2007. Itron chose not to use that operating system, and stayed with the earlier Windows XP system that already was five years old when Vista was released.

"One advantage Windows 7 has is that it's more flexible and efficient than Vista, and you don't need to replace computers," he says.

Windows 7 also has an advantage over XP in that it allows greater memory management, via its 64-bit processing capability, Pegoraro says.

XP's 32-bit processing capability is limited to handling about 3.5 gigabytes of random access memory (RAM), which is computer memory available to run programs and temporarily store data, he says.

Microsoft says a 64-bit processor using applications designed for it can manage up to 128 gigabytes of RAM. That capability would be ideal when using memory-intensive programs such as computer-assisted design, video, or imaging software, Pegoraro says.

"As memory has gotten cheaper over the last couple of years, it's a natural move to take advantage of 64-bit processing capability," he says.

Pegoraro says Itron probably will start buying new computers loaded with Windows 7 in 2010. Itron has about 6,000 desktop and laptop computers combined companywide, and it replaces up to a third of its computers annually, he says.

Infusion IT's Gould says she's been testing Windows 7 and has found it to work slower than XP on older equipment. Windows 7, though, is more stable than Vista, she says, and she expects to begin implementing it and installing it in customers' newer equipment in about a year.

For now, though, Infusion IT, which specializes in providing IT services to small businesses, continues to advise customers to wait for a service-pack release before buying the new operating system, Gould says.

She says nearly all of her customers use XP because there were too many problems with Vista not being compatible with hardware and software applications.

Windows 7 still might have some compatibility problems when paired with older equipment, but many customers are due for new computers and other hardware, Gould says.

Estes, at TROI IT says he's been running Windows 7 on his desktop and laptop computers since the beta, or test, version was released to IT professionals early this year.

TROI IT provides services to customers with as few as 25 computer users to more than 400 users. Since Vista was released, most of TROI IT's customers have stayed with the XP operating system rather than buy Vista-compatible hardware.

"With the economic downturn, they were not ready to make investments in new equipment," he says.

Even some customers who switched to Vista after Microsoft released the first service pack for it gave up and went back to XP because of persistent compatibility issues, he says.

Now, some customers who shied away from Vista are ready to step up to Windows 7 from XP.

"Two clients are ready to update to the latest of everything," Estes says. "They were already falling behind and put off spending, so now it's catch-up time for them."

XP users who've kept up with regular computer maintenance, which often includes memory upgrades, are well on their way to supporting Windows 7, he says. "Vista was too big of a leap when it was released. It's a memory hog, but now it's not unusual for computers to have 2 to 4 gigabytes of RAM."