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Citing findings from Market research firm Techaisle, Microsoft is warning that ignoring Windows 7 and failing to upgrade computers while choosing to ride Windows XP for all it’s got on older hardware comes with inherent financial costs. Techaisle indicates that the maintenance costs of older PCs running XP can be as much as 1.5 times higher than for newer Windows 7-based machines.

“Techaisle’s research showed that there are five main ways small businesses can benefit from newer PCs, including better security, improved productivity (40% less downtime than older PCs,) often 1.5 times less costly to maintain, they can take advantage of newer applications and enhanced support – all benefits that should save small businesses real time and money,” Sandrine Skinner, group product marketing manager, Microsoft, revealed.

Techaisle revealed that it surveyed no less than 1,000 small businesses in the United States, United Kingdom, China, Brazil and India, and found that 40% of small businesses were relying on computers that were more than three years old and that were still running XP. The study, sponsored in part by Microsoft and Intel, concludes that business customers have to deal with larger productivity and maintenance costs on old XP machines vs. newer Windows 7 PCs.

“Looking at specific hardware and software innovations that help make new PCs more efficient and the people that use them more productive, Techaisle pointed out the benefits such as improved graphics, energy efficiency and wireless communication in PCs with faster, multicore processors, including those in Intel’s 2010 Core vPro processor family. Techaisle suggested upgrading to Microsoft’s Windows 7, in particular Windows 7 Professional, rather than Home Premium, for its advantages in stability, security, collaboration, manageability and compatibility with older applications,” Skinner added.

According to the estimates of Techaisle, an environment of just a few older XP machines could end up costing $5,582 in maintenance and lost productivity in a year. By comparison, newer PCs with Windows 7 would need $1,552 less for maintenance, namely just $4,030.