Sales of individual copies of Microsoft Windows Vista during the first year of availability will far outpace the number of copies sold to businesses that buy the product in bulk, one analyst predicted.

In 2007, Windows Vista Home products - which will be released in January - are projected to account for 90 percent of new Windows clients deployed by home users, according to research firm IDC. In contrast, the firm said Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Enterprise will account for 35 percent of the new Windows clients deployed by business users.

During the second full year of availability, Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Enterprise will grow to account for 80 pct. of new deployments.

After a long wait, the adoption of Windows Vista will take place almost immediately among consumers, while businesses will follow a decidedly more conservative adoption curve, says Al Gillen, a research vice president at IDC.

Across the product mix, IDC expects to see a healthy movement toward Windows Vista Home Premium, while Windows Vista Ultimate will remain a niche product for some time to come, he added

The world's largest software company is introducing business versions of updates to its core products, including operating system Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange Server 2007, its email platform. The consumer version of vista will begin selling on Jan. 30.

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