Windows 10 looks like a huge hit with Microsoft's most important customers
It's weird, because big organizations are usually the last to want to adopt any new technology, let alone a whole operating system.
And yet, more than 49% of enterprises responding to Forrester's survey plan on going to Windows 10 in 2016, per the report.
That doesn't sound like much. Indeed, Forrester itself says that those numbers tend to be optimistic.
But compared to Windows 8, which Forrester says garnered a 22% positive response to the same question in 2012, the year it was released, it's a big win for Microsoft.
Furthermore, 38% of workers who use a computer say they want Windows 10 on their next work laptop, with 9% already using it on their primary work device.
Like millions of other PC owners worldwide, many businesses chose to stay on Windows 7 rather than upgrade to the much-maligned Windows 8.
But because Windows 10 combines the user-friendliness of Windows 7 with the touch-friendliness of Windows 8, plus some extra enterprise management features in the mix, both users and the IT department are finding a lot to love. Microsoft says that 14 million business users are on Windows 10 now, of 110 million users total.
And, as Forrester notes in that report, laptops have simply gotten a lot better since 2012 in general, giving Windows 10 a wave to ride.
Given that Microsoft relies on the enterprise for the vast majority of its business, and that enterprises are notoriously finicky, the strong interest from this segment bodes well for Microsoft.
It's also a big part of why Microsoft has been working fast to make Windows 10 more enterprise friendly with new features like a Windows Store for business.
On a final note, Forrester says that it's actually seeing a lot of interest in "smart glasses" like the floundering Google Glass or the forthcoming Microsoft HoloLens, as "backoffice" workers turn to them for things like warehousing, logistics, or maintenance. Maybe HoloLens could be a hit in the enterprise, if nowhere else.