Monthly Research Update

Experton Group Weekly IT News

News from the Client-side

By: Adam Braunstein

Palm, Inc. has released an update to its Treo line of handheld devices, the Treo Pro. At the Intel Corp. Developer Forum this week in San Francisco, the processor manufacturer talked up its upcoming Atom processor. Lastly, a new survey demonstrates the PC user reluctancy to use Microsoft Corp. Windows Vista.

Focal Points:

• The new Palm Treo Pro phone features Global Positioning System (GPS) capabilities, a revised design, and Wi-Fi atop the Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional platform. The sleek new layout incorporates dedicated e-mail and calendar buttons, a high-resolution screen, new screen saver functionality that shows the time of day and missed calls or text messages, and one-touch Wi-Fi access. The swappable battery provides five hours of talk time. Palm is also touting the Treo Pro's ability to work with Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 to simplify and increase mobile management and security tasks. GPS functionality allows for real-time directions, mapping, and point-of-interest searches. Built to run on newer Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) third-generation networks, the device can claim world phone status. Availability begins in September in Europe and later in the fall in the United States and rest of the world.
• Intel disclosed plans to release a dual-core Atom processor next month, called the Atom 330. The dual core successor to the single core Atom 230 is aimed at lower cost netbook and nettop PCs. Beyond the addition of a second core, the newer Atom also benefits from second level cache that has been upgraded from 512 megabytes (MB) to 1 gigabyte (GB). The new processor should fit into the same footprint as the Atom 230, though the company has not yet confirmed size, power consumption, or processor speed. The new processor is likely to first be seen on a small form factor motherboard with gigabit Ethernet, high-end audio, S-video capability, and numerous USB ports. Experton Group expects new devices to ship within the next 60 days.
• Devil Mountain Software, Inc. has an online software suite that provides benchmarking statistics and analysis on Windows PC and server systems using client-side software that connects to their Internet-based data repository. In its examination of nearly 3,000 PCs that were likely shipped within the last six months, the company found that approximately 35 percent of them had been downgraded from Windows Vista to XP Systems. Windows XP has been increasingly difficult to obtain over the last six to nine months without a Windows Vista Business or Vista Ultimate downgrade, installed either at the factory or by the end user.

Experton Group believes the new Treo Pro will make a splash with the Palm faithful and fans of the Windows Mobile, as it offers the best both companies currently have to offer. Palm has finally introduced a Treo with integrated Wi-Fi after years of customer requests to do so and despite the fact that numerous competitive offerings have included Wi-Fi and GPS for quite some time. Though the company has been on the mend as of late, it will need to move much faster if it intends to compete at the rapid pace with which the handheld device market is evolving. This product should be well received by enterprise and home consumers alike given its ease-of-use and high degree of functionality. 

The new Intel Atom processor is one of many forthcoming netbook- and nettop-oriented processors coming from all the chip manufacturers. Customers interested in small form factor and relatively inexpensive offerings have begun to express interest in such low-end netbook and nettop devices. However, the long-term appeal of these solutions remains in question as the performance and ratio of performance to cost of newer devices improves rapidly. Netbook and nettop devices are also helping to keep interest in Windows XP alive, given Microsoft's willingness to extend the availability of Windows XP Professional simply to meet the need of this market.

Enterprises, in particular, continue to shun Windows Vista due to its heavy use of RAM, remaining concerns over device incompatibilities, and somewhat lackluster performance.

While Microsoft may attempt to encourage enterprises any way it can to adopt Windows Vista, IT executives can rest assured that availability and support of Windows XP will remain as long as enterprises require.