Stay of Execution: XP to Continue Shipping Through May
OEM system builders selling computers with installed copies of Windows XP, originally slated to stop shipping on January 31, 2009, have just gotten a little breathing room. Microsoft has extended the deadline to ship licenses for XP through May 30st, 2009.
What that means is that customers shopping for computers will have a little bit longer to get their hands on an XP machine if they're reluctant to buy a computer with Windows Vista on it. Vista has come a long way since its first service pack but it still faces entrenched resistance due to its lack of compatibility with a lot of legacy hardware.
Some are speculating that Microsoft is extending this deadline to ease the overlap into the release of Windows 7, slated to drop in mid-2009, rather than risk losing Vista-averse customers in the downtime between XP's demise and Windows 7's arrival.
--Aric A.
Pete Drum on December 24, 2008 at 12:24 PM
So, is Windows 7 supposed to handle legacy software?
Aric A. on December 24, 2008 at 12:48 PM
@Pete: Funnily enough, not really. Vista's service pack added some missing drivers for legacy hardware, and it's reasonable to think there'll be more driver updates in the future, but the new kernel design that drives both Vista and W7 is going to continue leaving a lot of hardware behind out of necessity.
This move is mostly an image thing for Microsoft, because Vista has taken on such a negative connotation in the minds of consumers. They're worried that if there's a window of time in which Vista is the only choice of Windows available, people will try something else such as OS X.
Rick C on December 24, 2008 at 02:25 PM
Mind, most of the concern over legacy hardware is irrelevant to people _buying new computers_.
Mike Matters on December 24, 2008 at 02:31 PM
I think they have free backup CDs at 425-260-6866 because of some deal with Amazon. Oh, no, it's DELL, for people who want to "upgrade" from VISTA to XP SP3.
Blacque Jacques Shellacque on December 24, 2008 at 03:39 PM
If Microsoft leaves in all that DRM crap in "W7", it'll be bye-bye Microsoft for me. I'll pick up a copy of the XP Pro full install for a refurb Dell machine I'd like to get sometime soon and that will be all she wrote.
Steve Skubinna on December 24, 2008 at 08:10 PM
I just bought a subnotebook with XP installed. Of the variety I saw in Singapore last month, none had Vista, all were either XP or Linux. Somebody must have made that point in Redmond. You want to give up an entire category of personal computer, one that's as fast growing as the subnotebook?
As for myself, having suffered through Vista on my last laptop, and then "downgraded" to XP I've already bought some Linux books and am doing the research on which OS my next desktop will run. As much as I hate that cute Penguin, free and no-to-moderate suckage beats expensive and constant total suckage any day. Crappy DRM which can't keep track of music rights I've paid for, freezing for interminable periods for no discernible reason, sluggish performance on a fast dual core CPU, continuous nagging whenever I perform administrative maintenance, I've had it. Buh-bye!
Mark on December 25, 2008 at 06:50 AM
Get a Macbook and liberate yourself from this mess. I did a year ago...no crashes, no error messages, no software patches, no nada. Just a laptop that works.
John on December 25, 2008 at 08:29 AM
I'm in the same situation as you but stopped earlier. All my windows machines run Windows 2000. I have no intention of ever purchasing any new Microsoft operating system and have already passed on buying several games and other pieces of software because they require XP. If I can find a free (non-pirated) copy of XP, like an unused OEM copy, I might install it on one of my machines, but that would only be to run a few newer games.
Lorenz Gude on December 25, 2008 at 08:37 AM
I've had a similar experience with a Vista notebook - an HP 1000TX Tablet which has an AMD processor. It is slow and clunky with all the problems Steve S lists above. I've seen Vista run an a fast quad core desktop, but I wont pay money for Vista on my new dual core desktop. I've gotten hold of a Win7 Pre beta and it boots right up and shuts down quickly. I'd slip Balmer a $50 to use till the real deal comes out. It looks like Win 7 is what Vista should have been. I'll add this - finally MS has started putting things in intelligent places - They always move things around. With 7 I find them right away because they in places I think to look. So it is bit more like using OSX. I think MS may finally be achieving some integrity in their UI. Not sure, but this would be part of the MS pattern of taking a long time to get things right. I'm holding out for Win 7,
dunblak on December 27, 2008 at 08:26 PM
have my third gateway laptop, this one with vista...never again... cannot find anyone to take this crap off and put on xp...vista is killing computer sales by the thousands, and is going to be responsible for taking under some very large corporations...i believe microsoft has an obligation to provide the new os free to those of us who were sold a vastly inferior product...