Interesting... I bought my copy of Windows 7 a very long time ago...but still using XP...hmmm... Wonder how many like me there are?
Actually, I’ve tried Windows 7 and it is so much better than Vista that I could cry about it...but, It is a bit of a hog compared to XP and my simulators run so well now that I’m not going to change anytime soon. There is just no reason to change a working formula.
For those that want to jump on this - I actually have tried Windows 7 several times (keep hoping for change), both 32 and 64 bit versions. Unfortunately, my Flight and Train Simulators run faster in XP...so...
Eventually, I will have to upgrade but until I have to...
Operating system vendors *WISH* they had a model where your right to run the OS was timed, e.g. by the year, like the annual licenses are for big applications.
This is one of those circumstances where it could benefit the user as well -- you could continue to run an older version, as long as you kept your license fee up to date, and you'd be guaranteed support, etc.
But the model in play -- where you only pay Microsoft or Apple once for your license to run a given release of Windows or OS-X -- means that they not only WANT you to upgrade often, they have to FORCE you to upgrade often. That's their revenue stream.
Apple is more restrictive about running old versions -- they drop support for old versions fairly quickly. This is in part because with only 5-10% of the market, they don't have the resources to maintain support for long periods. (By contrast, MSFT will support XP until 2014 or so -- that's 13 years!)
Microsoft doesn't have that option. Their business customers would not tolerate a quick rate of OS upgrade because of the cost of testing custom apps, etc. for a new version. New releases break things, fact of life.
If Microsoft did not support old versions for a longer time than Apple, you'd see businesses dropping Windows and going to Mac at a higher rate than now.
You'll be forced to drop XP, but not for a few more years.