Corporate migration to Windows 7 may be less about evaluating the new Microsoft operating system and more about how to properly move off XP.
As we are doing so now, I am sure other companies IT pros will have to figure out how long it will take to get all their XP desktops to Windows 7 before XP support runs out or before application vendors quit producing XP versions of upgrades or new software, which some predict could come as early as 2012.
Windows 7 offers a host of interesting corporate features such as AppLocker, DirectAccess, Branch Cache and XP Mode, a virtualization technology that should buy time for users who migrate but must hold on to key legacy applications.
Gartner predicts that more than half of the corporate Windows user-base is skipping Vista and aiming at Windows 7.
While that means XP users won’t have to tangle with Vista in name, it doesn’t mean they will avoid the application compatibility issues that gave Vista a black eye right out of the blocks in November 2006. Windows 7 is built on the Vista code base.
If you are on XP, Windows 7 isn’t going to solve a lot of Vista’s migration problems. The few and proud corporate users however that did go to Vista will likely have an easier transition than the ones going from XP to 7.
Application compatibility issues from Vista to 7 are few and far in between, however XP to 7 will see some challenges.

Microsoft says nearly all applications that run on Vista will run on Windows 7 and early testing by users is beginning to validate that claim.
In addition, hardware upgrades made for Vista are relevant for Windows 7 rollouts.
While those rollouts won’t be painless for Vista converts, it is those on the XP side who will have to tap into their planning and organizational skills.

The predominant migration questions among those coming off XP are “when” and “how.”
Bottom line, by 2012 if you are still on XP it may turn into a complicated expensive preposition; Since you would likely need to have a custom support contract in order to gain support for XP.