Posted on 06/04/2008 8:01:01 AM PDT by Mike Fieschko
Microsoft has given another lease of life to Windows XP only days before PC makers have to stop selling it.
Windows XP reaches its end of life on 30 June but Microsoft has now said it can continue being sold until June 2010 but only on cheap desktops.
The decision follows one made in April to extend the life of XP on low cost laptops until the same date.
It comes as Dell, HP and Lenovo exploit loopholes in Microsoft's licensing terms to keep putting XP on machines.
Growing market
In an announcement at the Computex trade show in Taiwan, Microsoft said the decision was prompted by customers asking for the software to be put on low cost desktops.
Industry experts believe the decision is also motivated by the fact that low cost machines cannot run Windows Vista - the newest version of the operating system.
They also say that many of the low cost laptops run Linux - an open source rival to Microsoft's operating system.
Low cost laptops, such as the Asus Eee PC, have proved hugely popular. Research firm IDC predicts that sales of ultra low-cost notebooks, will reach nine million units in 2012.
The extension Microsoft granted to XP for these low cost laptops, or netbooks, covered machines that have no more than 1GB of RAM; a hard drive up to 80GB in size; a processor running no faster than 1GHz; a screen no larger than 10.2in (25cm) and no touch screen.
So far Microsoft has laid down no specifications for the low cost desktops, called nettops, but it said it was working with 20 PC makers on these machines.
The terms of Microsoft's licensing arrangements with PC makers dictate that they must stop offering XP as an option on new machines after 30 June.
Many PC makers have flouted this cut off by shipping machines running certain versions of Vista with a "downgrade license" that lets customers revert to the older operating system.
LOL.
The next service pack will contain a self-destruct sequence for all XP Operating Systems that will cause them to cease functioning after 2010.
Oh, the disloyalty of Microsoft customers, not upgrading to Vista the way they were told to. Lousy ingrates, after MS gave them flying children and forests sprouting in their living rooms.
Tech PING!
For whom .. users or MS or Dell?
Apple Breaks 20 per cent barrier in the US and ten per cent barrier worldwide
Apple's market share in the US has broken the 20 per cent market for the first time in its history........
http://www.pcretailmag.com/news/29628/Mac-market-share-on-the-rise-globally
Be happy to get a fancy, flying new laptop, if MS would be happy to fund it. Just put Ubuntu on my Dell Inspiron B130. Does everything I need to do.
That’s one way to make cheap desktops expensive. You know, cause these will be the only Windows machines anyone wants.
I bought a Toshiba Laptop last October with Vista installed. I absolutely hate it. I am waiting for my warranty to expire, and then am taking it in and getting XP put on it.
The damn thing will not run my camera software, or much else for that matter. It is outta here.
LilyBean
Got tired of dragging my old laptop in and out of my office, so last week I bought a new Vista laptop that I leave at home or take on the road. The old laptop runs great and has XP, Office 97, etc. I got the new Office suite on my new laptop.
Let me tell you........... I’ve had every problem from printer drivers to file problems between the older and newer Office programs. I’m not a happy camper.
Vista is like Windows ME. Avoid it and wait for it to be replaced.
Just switch to Linux and avoid all the MS angst. Problems solved.
I am in no hurry to switch to Vista. Even though I had my custom computer built with a 64 bit processor and higher end video card, I figure I would need to triple the amount of RAM and probably upgrade to an even better video card if I were to seriously look at running Vista. The rest of the family has gone to Mac.
I have an HP Pavilion Media Center with an AMD processor. FYI, when HP computers with AMD processors download XP SP3, there are reboot issues and/or your system crashes. When you go to the HP website to download,the HP utility patch to correct this problem (before installing SP3), you get an error message when you click the download button. I’ve sent almost a week exchanging emails with HP Tech Support. (1) HP finally acknowledged that their patch isn’t working; (2) they don’t know when they will have one that works; (3) they know their customers are angry (4) they advised me to set a system restore point; (5) they advised me to turn off automatic updates so that SP3 doesn’t automatically download; (6) I’ve now been through 6 or more people at HP before I found one that didn’t want to charge me for Tech Support and before they understood that I was major pissed!!! BTW, I recommend calling Palo Alto Corporate so they get the message.
A very wise decision for future operating systems would be to have them set up with a complex ala carte system.
That is, for Microsoft to *give away* disks that only connect the user with the Microsoft website with an interface and a complex system diagnosis.
Users can then select just what they want, when they want, direct from Microsoft, paying as they go. Users are provided a complex listing of features, with clear dependencies, and experts “out there” can easily publish popular configurations for things like home or business use and gaming.
Importantly, every bit of non-MS software then installed would have to automatically check with Microsoft to insure that it had all the OS support software it needed.
This could also mean that junk software that Windows installed that most consumers *don’t* want, like checking content for copyright licenses, would be right out. If users wanted that, fine. Microsoft could even include it for free, if they really want to kiss up to their corporate buddies. But don’t force it on people.
Otherwise, a user’s purchase would look something like a price list, so they could tell to a penny how much their OS would cost. Every time they changed their system, it would mean another connection to Microsoft, and possibly a small fee.
The advantages to both Microsoft and Users would be enormous. To start with, there would be frequent user verification, that would make pirating of MS products much more difficult. Microsoft could radically reduce the cost of its provision of OS disks, except to specialized users.
Every part of the OS could be kept up to date with both free and retail system upgrades. Microsoft could have a desktop icon that would include the price list. By being ala carte, even a new OS kernel could be as cheap as $75., because you would be getting just that.
Optimum users could have a continual Windows upgrade happening once each week, for just a few dollars. A system mirror could even be maintained by Microsoft for a fee. So if you had a crash, or needed to upgrade your hard drive, your executable and data files would be recoverable by download.
Finally, Apple computers have long had the advantage of an OS chip on their motherboard. If PC hardware was modified to have an OS chip as well, heavy encryption could be used so that only Microsoft could write to the chip via download, with accessory data only on the hard drive.
Not so much for the general computer user. I have been playing with the idea of switching to Linux on my home system, but so far, I am not pleased with the ease-of-use. I have been a computer support professional for 10 years, and I am currently an information security manager for a large school district. It still took me 3 days to troubleshoot why my Ubuntu 8.04 install would not recognize my monitor or my nVidia 8600GT video card. If I had that much trouble, how is a casual user going to handle it?
I am also looking at other distros, but Fedora 9 wouldn't even install due to the video driver problem, and I wasn't impressed with OpenSUSE 10.3 from my testing using the live CD. I have also discovered that none of the distros will allow me to run 4 GB of RAM if I am using an nVidia or ATI card, even though I am running the 64-bit versions.
I haven't completely given up yet, but it would be a strong overstatement to say that all problems are solved by switching to Linux...
"The last Windows computer you will ever need!"And you know they were RIGHT!
It was indeed the last pre-loaded Windows computer I will ever buy!(All my Win machines these days are VMware VMs, using my existing licenses. The old hardware is long gone.)
LMAO!!!
The same way that Windows users do it. Buy hardware that is supported by the operating system.
The fact that most Linux distros will install and run on most hardware is a bonus. Just like with Windows, if you want to ensure compatibility, make sure that the hardware you buy is actually supported by your distro of choice.
Now you know that Mac owners can install the OS themselves, right in the privacy of their own home...
Win 2K - still the winner.
[steve@armada7800 ~]$
[steve@armada7800 ~]$ uname -r
2.6.24.4-desktop586-3mnb
[steve@armada7800 ~]$
Running on a 1999 Compaq Armada 7800 laptop, still used daily for browsing (400 Mhz). Try THAT with Vista!
Apple Breaks 20 per cent barrier in the US and ten per cent barrier worldwide
Not really. Apple doesn't really compete in the low-end marketplace that is targeted by this.
I'm not surprised by this move at all, as it is basically an admission that Microsoft has no other way to compete on the low-end (what would have been considered to be fairly powerful machines just a few years ago). Vista is a resource-hungry pig that doesn't fit the needs of many people. The ASUS eeePC is targeting a growing marketplace that microsoft has only now realized they can't just abandon to their competitors. Once consumers realize there is a viable alternative to Windows, Microsoft's cash cow will slowly starve.
-Found our wireless network right away; no problems getting online
-Installed our old Lexmark inkjet printer driver; no problems
-Installed Open Office (free) software; no problems
-Installed our digital camera driver; no problems
My wife uses the computer for e-mail, desktop publishing, instant messaging, digital photo management, watching online video, etc. -- and she loves it. I've used it on several occasions, and it seems to work great.
I was initially concerned about getting it (due to the horror stories I had heard about Vista) -- but to date I am very happy with the purchase.
Get rid of that damned DRM anchor in the performance of new microprocessors, or forget my ever going to VISTA.
The very idea of having to get Microshaft's "permission" to change hardware components on MY computer makes me bristle. Just thinking about it!
Me too.
I am happy that you are happy with your Vista. For me, and the programs I run, it just is not working for me. I find it very unstable. I am totally unhappy with it. Each to their own. Glad it is working well for you.
LilyBean
A billion Chinese with Linus vs 300 million Americans with Windows........
and let's not even talk about the 'free' Windows the Chinese use..
Question: I have a customer’s machine coming in for maintenance and software install and one of the requests that I fielded was whether or not I could swap out Vista for XP. Any suggestions on how to do this short of having to buy it (assuming I can find a copy)? It is, after all, a “downgrade” -and he just can not work with Linux (gets totally frustrated with it).
All you people who use manufactured computers are a bunch of useless parasites anyway. I built my own computer from a pine cone, three rubber bands and some of my own skin, and I run it with software that I wrote myself using only 4 lines of code.
Hmph. Lightweights. You all disgust me.
/self-important geek mode
LOL!! Brilliant!!!
Yeah! And I stuffed a jet engine into my Yugo. I don't understand why you loosers don't just build your cars from scratch like me.
Honestly though, your post is what gets received often by people who want to switch away from Windows, when what they should be told is:
Trying to put a Linux distro on your hardware might work. No guarantees. Most people won't have a problem. However, if you want to make a break into the Linux world you need to do one of two things:
1. Do some research and be prepared for problems.
Not all hardware is created equal. Windows crashes a lot because Microsoft lets you install Windows on junk hardware. So, there's a lot of junk hardware out there. Linux is more careful. The downside is that your computer may have issues running Linux. The upside is that if your hardware is okay under Linux it will last a very long time and give you few problems.
If you're not willing to put up with possible problems with your existing hardware then:
2. Buy a computer that is known to run Linux well.
Dell has a couple. So does IBM (Now Lenovo). System76 has some too.
If you buy a Pentium II 45o at a yard sale and try to run Vista on it you're going to be in for a lot of trouble. That's because you can't just grab some random hardware then expect your OS of choice to work flawlessly.
Windows XP, service pack 3, just installed for me in 40 minutes with no problems whatsoever.
Not permission, provision. Say you want to load Photoshop, version 5.5. You tell MS and they tell you that you need to get MS programs w,x,y, and z, so that Photoshop will run.
And only them, no other crap.
You say “yes”, either buying w,x,y, and z or getting them free, and you install them before installing Photoshop. Only Microsoft could tell you if both everything will work, and will work *well* on your system, ahead of time.
Alternatively, Photoshop might say on the box that it requires a list of system features to run, so you need to get them first.
As far as DRM goes, most home users don’t want it, but corporations have to have it for liability reasons. And this goes to system configuration in the first place.
Only Microsoft has the knowledge base, or could have the knowledge base, to maximize computer performance with not just their, but other vendor’s software as well. Just the stuff you want, nothing extra. Especially DRM.
And if you are setting up you computer for the first time, before you have any data files at all, would you find it troubling that it works at maximum efficiency?
After that point, it is no longer Microsoft’s business what you do with your computer. But let’s say a year down the road, and you get Photoshop 9.3. Either Adobe or Microsoft would give you the information for a clean uninstall of 5.5, and then an *ideal* install of 9.3.
In the process, they tell you that your scanner and video card could be replaced, and if you slapped on another gigabyte of memory you would get much better performance.
Your choice to take their advice.
Ha! Microshaft loses to market forces! The little OS that could wins! XP lives on!
On Ubuntu, replace the -generic kernel with the -server kernel and you should fix the problem.
Notice too that this is an OS installation problem. I suspect that if users had to install Windows from media rather than buying their computers with it pre-installed they'd have just as much if not more difficulty as you did with Linux. It's worth the effort to set up Linux, trust me! :)
Ooo. Fellow Debian user. Excellent!
See My previous post: Some people just can not run Linux. I have one particular friend that can surf the internet with IE, and use some of the MS Office programs but just gets angry and frustrated with Linux no matter which version I attempted to get him used to. So, at this point I have just given up and accept the fact that he will forever be addicted to Windows.
The same way that Windows users do it. Buy hardware that is supported by the operating system.
According to the documentation, my card is supposed to be "supported". The problem is the same one that Linux has always had - many hardware and software vendors do not write code for Linux. So while the generic drivers that came with Ubuntu would allow me to see a maximum resolution of 800x600 on my 19" monitor (default resolution of 1280x1024), that is hardly what I would consider "working". The "restricted drivers", which were supposed to allow access to hardware acceleration, etc, would give me a black screen with a white box for a mouse cursor. I downloaded the beta drivers from NVidia that were supposed to work, but the installer would fail until I took 2 GB of RAM out of the box and added some obscure, poorly documented switches to the command line.
The point is, if Linux does not provide support for the most popular and current chipsets for video and audio, it is a severely limiting factor for most casual users. Most home users still want the Plug-and-Play convenience, and in my opinion, Linux still lacks in this area.
Nothing is perfect for everyone. If your friend is unable to accept a mild “moving of the waterdish” then he is best advised to stay with Windows. Of course, Vista is a much greater change from XP from a user interface standpoint than most Linuxes are. ;)
As has been pointed out, what you’re really unhappy about is a complex installation problem for Linux. This is where Windows really wins, because most users never have to install it. If they tried Linux boxes with the OS preinstalled, they’d be happy as clams. Users don’t actually want Plug ‘n’ Play convenience, they want their computers to work as appliances and to not have to think about them (this is entirely what they should want, too). If they had to install Windows on bare iron, they’d be more frustrated than you have been with Linux, I suspect. But there’s been no great outrage about the Walmart Linux-installed computers, that I know of. I think that shows that your opinions about Linux vs. Windows on a daily operations level are misinformed.
So what you are saying is that the drivers written by the Xorg people that ship with Ubuntu worked, but they don't fully exploit the hardware.
The restricted drivers provided by nVidia and the drivers downloaded directly from nVidia are broken.
Guess what? Your trouble is with nVidia, not Ubuntu.
nVidia refuses to fully document their hardware, shutting out driver developers and requiring users to rely on closed, broken nVidia software.
Like I said before...
Buy hardware that is fully supported. Do your research. The best supported video chipsets today are made by Intel and Matrox. That's because they both fully document the hardware interfaces and device driver programmers can write decent drivers.
Or buy a machine with Linux already installed. When you do that you have done the same thing, except that the hardware manufacturer has already done the research for you.
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