Intel forgoes upgrade to Windows Vista

Intel and its 80,000 employees will not be upgrading to Windows Vista, according to the New York Times Bits Blog.

A NYT source told the paper that the decision to skip Vista was made after "a lengthy analysis by [Intel's] internal technology staff" looking at the costs and benefits of upgrading.

The paper quoted the source as saying "this isn't a matter of dissing Microsoft ... [they] just found no compelling case for adopting Vista." Not surprising -- lots of companies and consumers are skipping an upgrade to Vista, unless they get it by purchasing new computers. The hardware requirements for Vista are significantly higher than Windows XP and many companies simply don't see any significant benefits to the upgrade.

The Times does note that MSFT's Steve Ballmer meets with his Intel counterpart Steve Otellini quite regularly and its possible Ballmer will "encourage" Otellini to upgrade, perhaps by offering favorable terms -- but that's just speculation.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

• Analysis: An Open Letter to Intel CEO Paul Otellini
• Analysis: An Open Letter to Steve Ballmer
• Special Feature: The Digital Home of 2013: 10 consumer technologies that will succeed, and five that will fail