Posted on 04/12/2007 8:20:09 AM PDT by ShadowAce
Computer makers have been told they'll no longer be able to get Windows XP OEM by the end of this year, despite consumer resistance to Vista and its compatibility problems.
By early 2008, Microsoft's contracts with computer makers will require companies to only sell Vista-loaded machines. "The OEM version of XP Professional goes next January," said Frank Luburic, senior ThinkPad product manager for Lenovo. "At that point, they'll have no choice."
Despite Microsoft's relentless promotion of Vista, manufacturers are still seeing plenty of demand from customers for systems preloaded with XP, especially in the finicky SOHO market.
In a recent post on its Direct2Dell blog, Dell reaffirmed to concerned customers that it wasn't about to force small business users -- who typically purchase PCs piecemeal, rather than in large enterprise-style orders -- to shift to Vista, which has experienced a less-than-stellar reaction from many buyers because of driver issues and moderately beefy hardware requirements.
"Dell recognizes the needs of small business customers and understands that more time is needed to transition to a new operating system," the post read in part. "The plan is to continue offering Windows XP on select Dimension and Inspiron systems until later this [northern] summer."
"From a local perspective, the post was a reminder more than an announcement," Dell ANZ corporate communications manager Paul McKeon told APC.
"This was something we'd always planned during the transition phase since businesses will have different time frames to adopt the new OS. If you're a consumer, you're unlikely to be managing more than say 2.4 OS images at home, so it's less of an issue"
There's general agreement amongst PC resellers that Vista has provided a minor boost to PC sales, but hasn't produced blockbuster numbers. A similar story applies in the retail space. Figures from marketing consultancy GfK suggest that after an initial sales surge, around 1500 copies of Vista are now being sold through Australian retailers each week, according to a recent report in the AFR.
While Dell's post suggested it wouldn't be promoting Vista systems to the home market, manufacturers still have the option of selling XP-based systems for consumers this year.
Just find a cracked copy and keep it by your computer, and never use the Micro$oft WGA or updates. Instead, use one of the other sites that allow you to update XP via the Firefox browser and stay happy with XP as long as you can!
I do *nix support for a living, and I wont load linux (again) at home. toooo much hassle. not intuitive, too many versions to get consistent support, drivers are hard to find, lack of software, family members are completely lost, and when it does work, I feel it lacks a lot of the fit, finish and features of Windows.”
Yer full of crap.Tyr Ubuntu Edgy
All your operating systems belong to us!
Dont forget CentOS which provides 7 years support.
Vista = Vicious
Thanks.
bump for tomorrow
at some point??? a few months after releasing their poorly written product????
Microsoft reminds me of our government. Force. Incompetence. Ugh!
Very welcome. Good luck. :-)
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