Intel plans quick Windows 7 rollout

Intel has confirmed it will be deploying Windows 7, which will come as a relief to Microsoft after the company's high-profile Vista snub.

Intel was perhaps the biggest company to skip Vista, claiming there was "no compelling reason" for the company to upgrade.

However, Intel's sales chief said a repeat is not on the cards with Windows 7. Speaking at the Intel Technology Summit, Sean Maloney was asked whether the chip giant would wait for the first service pack before rolling out Windows 7.

"This time I think we'll go faster," said Maloney. "There was an excuse not to deploy Vista, because - rightly or wrongly - people said 'wait for service pack X' or 'we don't like the compatibility issues.'"

However, Maloney reckoned there are no excuses this time. "There are really good reasons for the business client in terms of security, power management - lots of good reasons why you'd go for it."

"I'm sure half the people in the room are using it already - it looks really robust. You've got compatibility mode, which takes away a bunch of those arguments, so I think it's all positive."

However, just because Intel's giving it the thumbs up doesn't mean other enterprises are going to be convinced, especially in a time of tight budgets - a fact acknowledged by Maloney.

"Can we get the argument to the CFOs and the CEOs that it makes more sense to spend a little bit on capital to reduce your operating costs?" he asked delegates.

"We think it makes overwhelming sense if you have a three-year-old PC to replace the thing, for security violations, virus, power consumption, etcetera. Windows 7 is just one big positive."