Posted on 04/14/2008 6:23:53 AM PDT by Red Badger
Microsoft Corp.'s operating systems run most personal computers around the globe and are a cash cow for the world's largest software maker. But you'd never confuse a Windows user with the passionate fans of Mac OS X or even the free Linux operating system. Unless it's someone running Windows XP, a version Microsoft wants to retire.
Fans of the six-year-old operating system set to be pulled off store shelves in June have papered the Internet with blog posts, cartoons and petitions recently. They trumpet its superiority to Windows Vista, Microsoft's latest PC operating system, whose consumer launch last January was greeted with lukewarm reviews.
No matter how hard Microsoft works to persuade people to embrace Vista, some just can't be wowed. They complain about Vista's hefty hardware requirements, its less-than-peppy performance, occasional incompatibility with other programs and devices and frequent, irritating security pop-up windows.
For them, the impending disappearance of XP computers from retailers, and the phased withdrawal of technical support in coming years, is causing a minor panic.
Take, for instance, Galen Gruman. A longtime technology journalist, Gruman is more accustomed to writing about trends than starting them.
But after talking to Windows users for months, he realized his distaste for Vista and strong attachment to XP were widespread.
"It sort of hit us that, wait a minute, XP will be gone as of June 30. What are we going to do?" he said. "If no one does something, it's going to be gone."
So Gruman started a Save XP Web petition, gathering since January more than 100,000 signatures and thousands of comments, mostly from die-hard XP users who want Microsoft to keep selling it until the next version of Windows is released, currently targeted for 2010.
On the petition site's comments section, some users proclaimed they will downgrade from Vista to XP - an option available in the past to businesses, but now open for the first time to consumers who buy Vista Ultimate or Business editions - if they need to buy a new computer after XP goes off the market.
Others used the comments section to rail against the very idea that Microsoft has the power to enforce the phase-out from a stable, decent product to one that many consider worse, while profiting from the move. Many threatened to leave Windows for Apple or Linux machines.
Microsoft already extended the XP deadline once, but it shows no signs it will do so again. The company has declined to meet with Gruman to consider the petition. Microsoft is aware of the petition, it said in a statement to The Associated Press, and "will continue to be guided by feedback we hear from partners and customers about what makes sense based on their needs."
Gruman said he'd keep pressing for a meeting.
"They really believe if they just close their eyes, people will have no choice," he said.
In fact, most people who get a new computer will end up with Vista. In 2008, 94 percent of new Windows machines for consumers worldwide will run Vista, forecasts industry research group IDC. For businesses, about 75 percent of new PCs will have Vista. (That figure takes into account companies that choose to downgrade to XP.)
Although Microsoft may not budge on selling new copies of XP, it may have to extend support for it.
Al Gillen, an IDC analyst, estimated that at the end of 2008 nearly 60 percent of consumer PCs and almost 70 percent of business PCs worldwide will still run XP. Microsoft plans to end full support - including warranty claims and free help with problems - in April 2009. The company will continue providing a more limited level of service until April 2014.
Gillen said efforts like Gruman's grass-roots petition may not influence the software maker, but business customers' demands should carry more clout.
"You really can't make 69 percent of your installed base unhappy with you," he said.
Some companies - such as Wells Manufacturing Co. in Woodstock, Ill. - are crossing their fingers that he's right. The company, which melts scrap steel and casts iron bars, has 200 PCs that run Windows 2000 or XP. (Windows 2000 is no longer sold on PCs. Mainstream support has ended, but limited support is available through the middle of 2010.)
Wells usually replaces 50 of its PCs every 18 months. In the most recent round of purchases, Chief Information Officer Lou Peterhans said, the company stuck with XP because several of its applications don't run well on Vista.
"There is no strong reason to go to Vista, other than eventually losing support for XP," he said. Peterhans added that the company isn't planning to bring in Vista computers for 18 months to two years. If Microsoft keeps to its current timetable, its next operating system, code-named Windows 7, will be on the market by then.
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On the Net:
Save XP Petition: http://weblog.infoworld.com/save-xp/
Microsoft's Windows support timeline: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy
Changing OS on a PC isn’t that big a problem.
If you take on such a task, there are some precautions to take first.
Go buy a stand alone copy of XP.
Before you format, go to the PC/laptop manufactures website and download the drivers for the XP OS and burn to CD.
Then insert the XP install disk and off you go, the XP install disk will ask a few questions.
The only drawback is that this can take all day.
MS must be full of old grocery chain store managers. Every time I finally get used to the “new” store layout and can find every thing in the store without asking, they re-arrange it!.................
Return that Vista laptop and get in on this deal-—>>
http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=795965
I do, and it did suck. I liked DOS 5 though. All DOS 6 really did was include cheap knock-offs of third-party utilities like QEMM, Stacker and Norton Speed Disk.
Then problem you will see if you try to do the install with the Vista disk still installed, is that the new one won’t be “C:” during the install. XP will install to it, but internal references on where to find files will be screwed up. I think there is a way to tell windows “install on the drive that’s now D:, but do so as if the file structure is on C:”, but I don’t know (or don’t remember) how to do it. Better to just take out your other drive and plug the new one in by itself. If you get XP up and running, you can plug the other one back in and it won’t matter that its drive letter has changed, as all you want it for is to extract data off of it.
One thing to be careful about is that I believe a lot of the new laptops are shipping with SATA drives, so make sure to get the new drive that will be compatible with the interface your laptop has.
Also, copies of Windows that I’ve installed don’t contain SATA drivers (this is where you get the “press F6 to install custom RAID or SATA drivers” prompt), and you can’t have the new driver on a CD, it has to be on a floppy! This will be a problem if your laptop doesn’t have a floppy. I don’t know if a USB floppy will work. A floppy with a special connector that came with your laptop is probably supported at the BIOS level so it should work. Otherwise you’d have to “slipstream” the SATA drivers into the XP install media.
That’s why I said I must have purchased three “magic” computers since mine work perfectly. Obviously you all have defective computers.
I just think these whiners are acting like a bunch of liberals. They are into the blame game instead of doing what is required to fix their problems like getting computers capable of running Vista. I sold my XP computers for what I paid for brand new Vista machines with all of the latest hardware and Vista Home Premium installed.
There is no problem with Vista except people too uninformed to do what was initially required and that was to get machines capable of running this new operating system. You need 2 gb of memory and a dual core processor. It is stupid to try to upgrade an old XP machine. I tried all of this Linux stuff and dual booting and decided I wasn’t going to live in the past.
I also bought a Dell 1501 about a year ago, too. It was miserably slow and unreliable with the 1GB of RAM it came with. I bought two 1GB replacement sticks (NewEgg.com is a good source, currently about $40 for both, delivered). I opened the little compartment on the back, popped out the old memory, popped in the new,and five minutes later Vista was fine. Just save the old RAM and put it back in if you ever need warranty service on your Dell.
The anti-Vista, ant-Microsoft, anti-gates complaining reminds me of the near universal carping about “big oil”. I love Exxon and I love Microsoft. They’ve improved my world, and by sucking immeasurable costs out of the world economy they’ve greatly helped the poor.
I’m going to check the 1501 to see how much ram is installed on it.
I just purchased a 1525 and I’d like to install my 1 gig of ram in the 1501 and then upgrade the 1525 to 4 gigs.
By killing them. Gates' foundation funds Planned Parenthood hugely. They spread abortion services around the third world like they're giving out candy.
Just one of my reasons for not supporting MS.
You're talking about the gas version, right? As I recall their diesel version gave all diesel engines a bad reputation for years.
Xenalyte - you are too pretty to argue with.
Aw, shucks. :)
More to the point, I work in the oil industry.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, etc. No argument there. The government is responsible for all that. But the oil industry also receives an “oil depreciation allowance.” That’s highway robbery. The goverment shouldn’t be using public dollars to subsidize private corporations.
The oil industry is not an American business. Its an international cartel in allaince with the Opec states and the Muslims in the MIddle East.
They need to be regulated. So do the commodity brokers who are making a profit on oil sales. Unlike all other commodities, the cost of energy has a ripple effect which adversely impacts the business climate in America and is creating an economic catastrophy for other businesses here.
They don't realize what an asset they have.
Furthermore, since YOU work in the oil industry, I will no longer - ever - post anymore comments attacking them. Trust me on that - its a promise and I don't break my promises.
Show them this post and let them know what positive P.R. you can generate!!
I agree, I have grown very weary of being forced to purchase their new OS, all so this guy can make another 20 billion.
When XP is gone and not supported, we’ll be looking for another OS. End of story.
Believe you me, my skill set is quite fairly valued up here. I’m not making lawyer money, but with me in oil and Xena’s Guy in IT, we’re almost recession-proof as far as Houston goes.
Attack us all you want ... I hope I’ll be around to insert some truth into the discussion.
BTW, it’s worth drawing a distinction between our private oil companies and state-controlled ones like Pemex and PDVSA.
“Attack us all you want ... I hope I’ll be around to insert some truth into the discussion.”
I said I won’t do that again and I keep my promises.
Xenalyte’s guy in IT is a VERY lucky guy. A VERY lucky guy.
I seriously doubt your warranty won’t let you install RAM. If it actually does, install it anyway, then just take it back out before sending it in to Dell for repair if and when it breaks. The RAM is not really going to harm the computer, so they’d be out of line voiding your warranty for it.
What do you mean by this? I have a grand total of probably 20 minutes working on Vista boxes, so I'm not challenging you but looking for clarification and information.
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