- Is the Cisco MARS mission going to abort?
- First iPhone worm spreads Rick Astley wallpaper
- 10 stunning 3D buildings made with Google SketchUp
- Open source software ready for big business
- Four reasons to buy (and one reason to avoid) the Droid
Hate Vista? If your PC is running Microsoft Windows Vista Business or Windows Ultimate and you're fed up with the OS you may be able to ditch Vista for XP Pro. Microsoft is quietly allowing you to downgrade to Windows XP Pro.
Dell, HP, and Lenovo are just a few of the system manufacturers offering downgrades. Each of these PC makers offer an XP Pro recovery disc to those who request one that can be used to revert a Vista machine to XP Pro.
Dell, HP, and Lenovo customers can request a Windows XP Pro recovery disc to be included with their purchase of a Vista machine - should they want to revert in the future. Customers who already have purchased a Vista-PC can request an XP Pro recovery CD for between US$15 to $20 by calling technical support.
Different policies for different vendors
A Lenovo Web site for downgrading to XP Pro states: "For a limited time only Lenovo customers that have Windows Vista Business or Ultimate installed on their machines will have the chance to purchase a Windows XP Recovery CD."
Dell small business sales told me if I purchased a system with either the Vista Business or Ultimate operating system I could pay an extra $20 to have XP Pro recovery discs shipped with the machine. Dell told me I wouldn't need an extra Windows license for the XP Pro software.
HP business sale's staff described a near identical downgrade plan, except for the fact the XP Pro recovery discs would not include a license to activate the OS.
The desire to revert to XP Pro from Vista is a business trend, not a consumer trend, says Chris Swenson, director, software industry analysis, for market research firm NPD Group.
"Retail consumers are not requesting to go back to XP," Swenson says. Businesses are more sensitive to upgrades because Vista requires a more robust computer to run programs at peak performance. Vista's requires better graphics and memory than XP, forcing companies to spend more on systems, he says.
Additionally some customers and businesses have complained about Vista's lack of support for software and hardware designed originally for XP.
Rss FeedRss Feed
The Leader in Network Knowledge
Comments (3)
RE: Vista backlash: Microsoft lets Vista users revert to XPBy Microsoft Subnet on September 25, 2007, 12:37 pmBuyers of new computers have always had the option to skip Vista and “downgrade” to XP . Some readers say that they had to give up some technical support to do that.Visit...
Reply | Read entire comment
A pat on the back to MicrosoftBy Gene Davis on September 27, 2007, 10:32 amThis is not a new revelation... Microsoft is not the nasty, money and power hog that most media people seem to feel they are, and portray them as such for the purposes...
Reply | Read entire comment
Gene is mistaken.By JP on October 2, 2007, 10:50 amThe issue for a lot of people is this: they want to buy an old computer for the kids etc, and somebody says, "I'll sell you one", and chances are Windows Update...
Reply | Read entire comment
View all comments