Tuesday Buzz: When Businesses Finally Quit Windows XP

The PC industry did not have an easy 2013, largely because business buyers had no desire to upgrade from their beige Windows XP boxes.

Now that trend is starting to shift the other way—very, very slowly.

That’s according to Gartner, which released its latest forecast on the direction of the industry on Monday. While sales remain on the decline, they’re expected to slow their free fall from 2013, when PC device shipments dropped by 9.5 percent, to a much more modest decline of 2.9 percent in 2014. Gartner Research Director Ranjit Atwal says that Microsoft’s decision to sunset Windows XP is part of the reason.

“Business upgrades from Windows XP and the general business replacement cycle will lessen the downward trend, especially in Western Europe,” Atwal said in a statement  (opens in a new tab). “This year, we anticipate nearly 60 million professional PC replacements in mature markets.”

A big part of what’s driving the growth is the ultramobile market, a section of the PC market where systems are smaller than 14 inches in size and thinner than 23 millimeters. The market is expected to significantly increase in 2015 and drive a rise in PC shipments as traditional PCs and notebooks continue to slide.

More highlights from Gartner’s latest data forecast can be found here  (opens in a new tab).

Let’s Commence

The best commencement speeches, ever. http://t.co/MHpSekx5Nk  (opens in a new tab) Seasonal advice for anyone starting something new. #assnchat  (opens in a new tab)

— Andy Freed (@andy_freed) July 7, 2014  (opens in a new tab)

In case you missed the highs and lows of the recent commencement season, you may want to take a gander at a spiffy online database from NPR  (opens in a new tab), which has a nice collection of more than 300 notable commencement speeches—from President John F. Kennedy’s June 1963 speech  (opens in a new tab) at American University to just-departed New York Times editor Jill Abramson’s barn burner at Wake Forest University  (opens in a new tab) this past May.

There are a lot of words to live by in the database, including this epic example  (opens in a new tab) from Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford University address: “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”

Speaking anytime soon? Pick up some pointers  (opens in a new tab) from these pros. (ht @andy_freed  (opens in a new tab))

Other good reads

Sometimes a good gamble is what you need to move forward. Case in point: the roll of the dice FedEx founder Fred Smith made in Vegas one weekend when the fledgling company was running low on cash. As Priceonomics points out, the gamble worked  (opens in a new tab).

Feel like your board retreats are a wash? Over at MultiBriefs, the Nonprofit Center’s Bob Harris, CAE, offers tips on how to boost the productivity factor of these once-a-year meetings  (opens in a new tab).

How can someone like Man v. Food host Adam Richman survive a social media free fall? Bloomberg Businessweek‘s Felix Gillette has some insights  (opens in a new tab) that might offer lessons to other public figures, too.

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