Posted on 04/03/2008 8:00:03 PM PDT by dayglored
Microsoft said today it will continue to sell Windows XP Home beyond its scheduled June 30 kill-date for the emerging class of "ultra-low-cost PCs," or ULCPCs.
The operating system has been granted a reprieve until mid-2010, but only for the diminutive laptops such as the Asus Eee PC and Intel Classmate PC which lack the hardware necessary to run Windows Vista adequately.
The cut-off date for XP licenses in mainstream boxes remains the end of June, 2008. Free live support and warranty-based technical support will dry up next April. After that, customers need to pay for phone support until April 2014, when Microsoft washes its hands completely dry. XP security fixes will continue to be available for free.
Computer makers can sell XP Home on ULCPC machines through June 30, 2010, or one year after the scheduled launch of the next version of Windows. Exactly what lack of specs Microsoft is using to determine if a computer is an ULCPC remains unclear...
(Excerpt) Read more at theregister.co.uk ...
Ought to get together an EEE-PC ping list... just think of the pics that could be posted...
Not guilty!
Ping to read later
I heard the new generation of eee is supposed to be coming out about now. Do you know anything about this?
Check this out: 16 GB USB flash drive, $60. Plug one of these into an EEE PC and you've got all kinds of memory.
My Big Fat Hand is guilty as sin.
How, pray tell, does one wash the hands completely dry? Who in the h*ll is working for the media these days???
Re: Microsoft Vista. This program is the most popular answer whenever someone mentions a recent MAC purchase to me. I have seen enough of Vista and the Microsoft Bataan Death March to sympathize with their decisions to buy an Apple.
Funny video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N37nAqMpfeM
Ummm, bunch of illiterates maybe?
My first thought, looking at that picture of the girl clutching her iPod, was that she's got it plugged into one of those iPod-driven dildoes that rocks you to the beat of the music...
Dang. Pretty girl. Definitely NOT GUILTY.
Nice computer, too.
Any of the above here.
Any but Fierro’s hand. He’s dead, did you hear?
Sssooooo what is Microsoft going to offer to run on the eee-PC? Windows Mobile? LOL! Idiots.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
That's how it started, and how I saw it running last November when I visited Taipei. It's really meant to run Linux.
Microsoft is in desperation mode. That's the only reason they're allowing this. They see their market getting eaten from above (OS-X, Macs) and below (Linux, Eee-PC).
Even with 90% of the desktop market still theirs, they sense the deterioration, and are willing to allow XP to live even though it hurts Vista, because otherwise their market will collapse around them.
For a story of how an Empire can collapse even though it rules everything, read Asimov's "Foundation" trilogy.
They'll figure out how to put XP Home on it. The machine is actually quite capable, despite its size and cost limits.
Vista, no way. XP Pro in an office environment? Of course not. But for an ultra-portable browser/email machine? ideal!!
Microsoft HAD to allow XP to live for this, otherwise this would have been Linux's first huge strike against them in the consumer market.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.