The XP alternative for Vista PCs

[Guest Tiberius]

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[Guest Tiberius]

Re: The XP alternative for Vista PCs

 

http://www.news.com/The-XP-alternative-for-Vista-PCs/2100-1016_3-6209481.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news

 

While Microsoft is still pushing Vista hard, the company is quietly allowing

PC makers to offer a "downgrade" option to buyers that get machines with the

new operating system but want to switch to Windows XP.

The program applies only to Windows Vista Business and Ultimate versions,

and it is up to PC makers to decide how, if at all, they want to make XP

available. Fujitsu has been among the most aggressive, starting last month

to include an XP disc in the box with its laptops and tablets.

"That's going to help out small- and medium-size businesses," Fujitsu

marketing manager Brandon Farris told CNET News.com.

Hewlett-Packard also started a program in August for many of its business

models. "For business desktops, workstations and select business notebooks

and tablet PCs, customers can configure their systems to include the XP Pro

restore disc for little or no charge," HP spokeswoman Tiffany Smith said in

an e-mail. She said it was too soon to gauge how high customer interest has

been. "Since we've only been offering (it) for about a month, we don't

really have anything to share on demand."

 

A Microsoft representative confirmed there were changes made over the summer

to make it easier for customers to downgrade to XP. Under Microsoft's

licensing terms for Vista, buyers of Vista Business and Vista Ultimate

Edition have always had the right to downgrade to XP, but in practice this

could be challenging. In June, Microsoft changed its practices to allow

computer makers that sell pre-activated Vista machines to order Windows XP

discs that could be included inside the box with PCs, or shipped to

customers without requiring additional activation. Microsoft noted in a

statement that neither it nor the PC makers are "obligated to supply earlier

versions to end users under the end user licensing terms."

While there is always resistance by some to move to a new operating system,

there appears to be particularly strong demand, especially from businesses,

to stick with XP.

One of the challenges, for both businesses and consumers are Vista's hefty

graphics and memory needs.

Lenovo, for its part, has details for its downgrade program on its IBM

ThinkPad Web site.

Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden said Dell has been offering businesses that

have a Premier Page set up the option to order systems with XP, Vista or

Vista with XP downgrade rights. There is no extra charge for the downgrade

rights.

"We've been offering it and we're still offering it," she said.

HP, Gateway and others also still sell machines with XP on them, nearly a

year after Microsoft first started offering Vista to businesses. Vista went

on sale broadly to consumers in January, at which point XP largely

disappeared from retail shelves.

However, demand for XP has remained. In April, Dell brought XP back as an

option even on consumer PCs.

There is an issue, though, over how long PC makers can keep selling machines

with Windows XP as the preloaded operating system. Microsoft is requiring

large PC makers to stop selling XP-based systems as of January 31, though

some PC makers would like to sell XP machines for longer.

"We're all lobbying for it," Farris said.