SINGAPORE--Businesses will be compelled to upgrade to Windows 7 because of the void left in the Windows operating system market by predecessor Vista, according to a Microsoft executive.

Andrew Pickup, Microsoft's Asia-Pacific general manager of marketing and business operations, admitted in an interview with ZDNet Asia Thursday that the lack of Vista deployments, coupled with the end of mainstream XP support in April this year, has left the market with "unsated demand" for the next version of Windows.

Windows 7 will be further boosted by an expected 10 percent growth in PC shipments next year, he added. The Windows OS is typically offered in bundled deals with new hardware.

In contrast, following Vista's launch two years ago, PC shipments shrank by 4 percent in 2008. That had a negative impact on Vista, said Pickup.

Gartner in May advised businesses to skip Vista in favor of Windows 7, saying the new OS further improves upon new features introduced to the Windows OS by Vista. The research analyst also noted that enterprises should upgrade to Windows 7 from Windows XP by end-2012...