Before Windows 7 heaven comes an XP extension

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 07 October 2008 07:28

Opinion and Analysis

CRN further quoted Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley’s blog, where a Microsoft statement adds:

”What's changing is Microsoft is giving six more months where it will provide downgrade media for XP Professional for OEMs and system builders to provide to their customers who purchase Windows Vista Ultimate and Business editions.”

Microsoft believes this will be, for the most part, “small businesses since that's the audience that would want/use XP Pro. So it's the same old downgrade right thing that was in the EULA before; it's just Microsoft is providing the media to partners a few months more.

"The same caveat with providing the downgrade media as before applies, which is OEMs and system builders don't have to do so if they don't want”.

So, Windows XP is here to stay a bit longer, before the promised land of Windows 7 heaven emerges, and businesses make the decision to either bite the bullet and deploy Windows 7 as a kind of Windows Vista “second edition”... or if they decide to wait again until Windows 7 SP1 hits the scene.

Of course, if the right to install XP does indeed expire on July 31, 2009, companies may not have much choice but to deploy Windows Vista after that time – unless Microsoft extends the XP deadline once more.

But with Windows 7 rumoured to be arriving soon after this time, to take advantage of the 2009 Christmas/end-of-year/holiday shopping season – rather than springing Windows 7 onto the world in an early 2010 timeframe (as happened with Windows Vista and it’s January 30 2007 delivery), exactly what companies and Microsoft will do is unclear.

Microsoft seems to be working hard to make Windows 7 everything that Vista was supposed to be at launch, with full Vista hardware compatibility (so no hardware surprises as with Vista’s launch), letting companies upgrade straight to Windows 7 without needing to wait for any Windows 7 SP1.

The best thing for companies to do at this time seems to be nothing, if they haven’t already moved or are making moves to Vista. That means continue with XP for now, and wait to see what Microsoft does with Windows 7 in terms of a 2009 or 2010 launch.