| Ballmer suggests XP might stay while PC makers flout Microsoft |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Monday, 28 April 2008 | |
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Ballmer’s response? "XP will hit an end-of-life. We have announced one. If customer feedback varies, we can always wake up smarter, but right now, we have a plan for end-of-life for new XP shipments." But perhaps Microsoft is having an each way bet no matter what its official policy might be: an escape clause in Vista’s licensing conditions lets computer manufacturers offer a “downgrade” to XP when Vista Business or Ultimate is sold, which Dell and Lenovo, at least, are taking Microsoft up on. According to an article by the BBC, Dell lets business customers who purchase some Latitude, OptiPlex and Precision models take advantage of the “downgrade license” to have XP delivered on a machine that was ordered with Vista Business or Ultimate – but Dell says that offer is only open to business customers, not consumers. But consumers or small firms who buy Dell’s Vostro – or its high performance XPS machines, often used for gaming, can opt for XP too – if they pay an additional fee. This offer by Dell will extend far beyond the official June 30 deadline for XP’s end-of-life, although Microsoft has already relented on XP once – it will continue officially selling XP for ‘ultra low cost PCs’ – or ULCPCs, such as the Asus Eee PC, and others. According to the BBC, HP will also use the “downgrade” option to continue selling XP on “some models” right up until July 2009 – and if demand remains stronger, potentially for even longer. Then there’s Lenovo, which is going so far as to ship an XP ‘recovery disk’ on some models, despite Vista being installed when the customer receives their computer. For Microsoft, and the consumer, the benefit is double. Microsoft gets to count the sale as one for Vista, while the customer gets the operating system they want right now – and has the right to upgrade back to Vista later, if they so desire, as part of the same license. So, will Microsoft truly persist in breaking Windows XP and forcing Vista onto all who want a mainstream computer, or will they cave in before the June 30 deadline and officially allow sales of Windows XP to continue – without manufacturers resorting to escape clauses? Please read on to page 2. |
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