Monday, October 6th 2008

Microsoft Windows XP Downgrade Program Extended by Another Six Months

Windows XP, the OS that is still widely available although its Vista successor is trying to get the upper hand for more than a year, has just received another six months before going down forever. Earlier this summer, Microsoft instructed retailers to stop selling copies of Windows XP to consumers. Regardless of that customers were still able to use their lovely XP OS through a loophole that allowed them to purchase a new computer running certain version of Windows Vista and still downgrade to Windows XP for free. Originally, that option was set to expire on January 31st, 2009. Now Microsoft has extended that date by another six months, through July 31st, 2009. Recent market research shows that one third of the customers that can take advantage of the downgrade program, return to Windows XP without thinking twice. Recently Microsoft also made Windows XP licenses and support available for netbooks until 2010. With little help Windows XP could be still alive when Vista's deputy Windows 7 becomes available.
Source: The Register
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42 Comments on Microsoft Windows XP Downgrade Program Extended by Another Six Months

#26
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
DonInKansasSorry, I should have said for-profit business.:rolleyes:
:) Just giving you crap. Even the not for profits are in it for the money, they just give all the top execs huge bonusses at the end of the year to make their profits equal 0.
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#27
Triprift
Lol good to see another xp v vista debate suprisingly this one is somewhat civil. That bad part is that most xp users are convinced that 7 will be the greatest os ever wich is a dangerous thought when its ms were talking about here. Kinda reminds me of duke hanging out for ever until the enevitable letdown oh we i suppose ya can have another petition as ull probably end up with vista anyways lol.
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#28
Unregistered
Not entirely, many people don't want to upgrade twice within a short period of time, they don't want to spend money on Vista when they know Windows 7 is going to be out soon as well.

If the O/S came with a new fast desktop computer then I don't see why not, the problem is many laptops comes shipped with Vista with a rather slow CPU and only 1-2GB of ram, give many people an extremely and unfairly poor taste of Vista!
#29
Triprift
Yeah the eee pc and the equivalents yes but most ppl in here have puters that can run Vista no probs yet stick by xp then go on about the hardware requirements that makes me laugh.
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#30
DonInKansas
newtekie1:) Just giving you crap. Even the not for profits are in it for the money, they just give all the top execs huge bonusses at the end of the year to make their profits equal 0.
Not a problem; I'm glad you see that little piece of info as well:toast:
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#31
kid41212003
Alot of company still happy with their old computers with XP on it. They saw no reasons to upgrade to Vista. Upgrading their system to Vista mean new hardwares or even branch new computers for a whole company, but what will Vista gives them? XP already have everything they need.

Vista is just a stepping stone for Windows 7, just like Windows Me was a stepping stone for Windows XP.

I'm not dislike Vista, I would stick with XP, but I want to learn new things about new OS. It's time to move on, and adopt new things.
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#32
Unregistered
You mean Windows 2000 not ME, XP is 2K upgraded, Windows ME is just a pile of crap worse O/S ever made :roll:
#33
CrAsHnBuRnXp
If they keep extending it and if the road map for Windows 7 stays the course, XP will still be supported when Windows 7 comes out which seems to be June or July of 09. I cant remember which.
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#34
Darkrealms
newtekie1Current by them, isn't current if it doesn't work properly on Vista, I don't care what GE says. I'm sure their is an alternative that you can switch to, and if you are paying for continued support by them, they have to support it regardless of platform.



Perhaps one day UNICEF will get into the OS business.
That just shows you do not understand the medical industry or the cost of changing systems. Yes it is possible to change but for a under 50 employee business it would cost hundreds of thousands to change systems. That is in no way cost effective, especially when the GE products are still in the top grouping.
TripriftLol good to see another xp v vista debate suprisingly this one is somewhat civil. That bad part is that most xp users are convinced that 7 will be the greatest os ever wich is a dangerous thought when its ms were talking about here. Kinda reminds me of duke hanging out for ever until the enevitable letdown oh we i suppose ya can have another petition as ull probably end up with vista anyways lol.
I'm just trying to present different sides of the arguement and have agreed on the vista side in several cases, just not all : )

I also agree about it not being worth it for many to upgrade to vista IF windows7 is supposed to be more compact and "modular" as is claimed.
I have also owned one of those "Vista Compatable" laptops that was mentioned but was tasked by vista.
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#35
Hayder_Master
windows xp is only perfect program release by Microsoft
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#36
Triprift
Lol yep it was perfect alright when it was released :rolleyes: and had no sp funny enuff thats not what i remember :p
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#37
Mad-Matt
XP Wasnt too bad on release. My system at the time was a Celern300a @490, faster and more compatable then win2k was, although I Dual booted win98 and Xp for a while while until the games were better supported on xp. Vista seems to be red herring in the sense it seems to be more of a stepping stone for Windows 7. From a business perspective, I guess it doesnt make any sense to invest in vista when 7 is less then a year away. even then, they have to ask them selves if productivity will improve after the huge cost. In an office just using sage/office, upgrading the os isnt gonna make a single difference.
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#38
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
insiderIf the O/S came with a new fast desktop computer then I don't see why not, the problem is many laptops comes shipped with Vista with a rather slow CPU and only 1-2GB of ram, give many people an extremely and unfairly poor taste of Vista!
Slow CPU's with only 1-2GB of RAM actually isn't that bad with Vista, my EeePC is pretty much exactly that, and Vista runs more than comfortably with it. I think the real problem has two sides to it.

On one side, you have all the computer manufacturers that in the beginning of Vista's life were putting out machines that barely match the Vista requirements(Slow Processor and only 512MB of RAM with a shit graphics card) and installing Vista on them. Hell, XP doesn't even run that well on 512MB. They tried to get away with what they were used to doing, and that is putting out completely crap machines that barely ran the OS and charging huge markups on them. This just put a bad tast in peoples mouths, and it has stuck.

On the other side, you have all the poeple that have never tried Vista that just constantly get told by the Internet and other sources that Vista is a resource hog, and it runs like shit, and it is buggy as all hell, and they decide, without ever actually using the OS, that they don't like it. And a lot of the time they spread the same misinformation themselves, which continues to make the problem worse.
DarkrealmsThat just shows you do not understand the medical industry or the cost of changing systems. Yes it is possible to change but for a under 50 employee business it would cost hundreds of thousands to change systems. That is in no way cost effective, especially when the GE products are still in the top grouping.
I understand the medical industry greatly, besides supporting several medial offices myself, I have a very good friend that works for a large ~20 Doctor Practice as their head of IT. When Vista came out, it was one of his main projects to test Vista with every single IT product in the building, including all their GE equipment. All if it worked, and furthermore, GE supports everthing despite their use of Vista. If you buy multi-million dollar machines from a company, they are going to support it.
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#39
Frick
Fishfaced Nincompoop
insiderIf the O/S came with a new fast desktop computer then I don't see why not, the problem is many laptops comes shipped with Vista with a rather slow CPU and only 1-2GB of ram, give many people an extremely and unfairly poor taste of Vista!
2GB is more than enough for the avarage user, the same goes for the CPU. Heck, I just had 1GB when I had the RC's, and I was totally fine.

Now, when Vista just arrived these systems with 512MB ram were sold everywhere, but everything has changed now. Memory is alot cheaper and there are no "bad" cpu's anymore really.

EDIT: I just saw newtekie said pretty much the exact same thing.
Posted on Reply
#40
Darkrealms
newtekie1I understand the medical industry greatly, besides supporting several medial offices myself, I have a very good friend that works for a large ~20 Doctor Practice as their head of IT. When Vista came out, it was one of his main projects to test Vista with every single IT product in the building, including all their GE equipment. All if it worked, and furthermore, GE supports everthing despite their use of Vista. If you buy multi-million dollar machines from a company, they are going to support it.
Please see the below. I have listed both the IE7 (which has been resolved) and the Vista portion of the email GE sent out and they have still not resolved the Vista portion as "Compatable" as of yet. I deal with multiple clients as well and thus far Vista has not been the best option for them. I'm not trying to say Vista will not work in the industry but I am saying there are many companies out there that will not support their products on a Vista platform.
For the consumer sector pretty much ANYTHING but Vista basic is alright (sorry XP Home/Vista Basic, might as well not exist).
EMRCentricity EMR and Windows Vista

On January 30, 2007, Microsoft® Corporation released its new Windows Operating Systems "Vista". Compatibility checks between Vista and our Centricity Electronic Medical Records product will commence in spring of 2007.

Customers should refrain from changing their current Windows operating systems to Vista for our Centricity EMR product until certification of compatibility are completed in 2008. Until compatibility testing is complete, this is a not a supported platform.


Centricity EMR and Internet Explorer 7.0

Microsoft Corporation has released its latest Internet Explorer (IE), version 7.0. Compatibility checks between IE 7.0 and our Centricity Electronic Medical Records product are currently underway. Any necessary updates for the Centricity EMR application s compatibility with IE 7.0 will be provided in a future Service Pack release.


Thank you,
The Centricity Services Team
newtekie1, I also completely agree with you that part of Vistas failure to begin with was the lack of hardware implemented with Vista. I have seen many systems "running" with 512mb prebundled. I've made it a general practice to install the ~$35 1gb dimm of ram on them. I've noticed after the install and reboot that vist generally takes up between 690-850mb right off the bat anyway.
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#41
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
DarkrealmsPlease see the below. I have listed both the IE7 (which has been resolved) and the Vista portion of the email GE sent out and they have still not resolved the Vista portion as "Compatable" as of yet. I deal with multiple clients as well and thus far Vista has not been the best option for them. I'm not trying to say Vista will not work in the industry but I am saying there are many companies out there that will not support their products on a Vista platform.
For the consumer sector pretty much ANYTHING but Vista basic is alright (sorry XP Home/Vista Basic, might as well not exist).


newtekie1, I also completely agree with you that part of Vistas failure to begin with was the lack of hardware implemented with Vista. I have seen many systems "running" with 512mb prebundled. I've made it a general practice to install the ~$35 1gb dimm of ram on them. I've noticed after the install and reboot that vist generally takes up between 690-850mb right off the bat anyway.
He got petty much the same form email. His responce went something like "You will continue to support your products regardless of the OS or I will refuse shipment on our brand new MRI machine we just ordered from you, stop payment on it, and buy an MRI machine and all the rest of our new equipment from your competitors." To which GE responded with "OK".

Now of course, he didn't change anything existing over to Vista, but everything that is bought new is running Vista, and that is how it should be IMO. The existing equipment staying XP isn't an issue, and isn't even what this topic is about. It is about new hardware purchased.
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#42
Darkrealms
newtekie1He got petty much the same form email. His responce went something like "You will continue to support your products regardless of the OS or I will refuse shipment on our brand new MRI machine we just ordered from you, stop payment on it, and buy an MRI machine and all the rest of our new equipment from your competitors." To which GE responded with "OK".

Now of course, he didn't change anything existing over to Vista, but everything that is bought new is running Vista, and that is how it should be IMO. The existing equipment staying XP isn't an issue, and isn't even what this topic is about. It is about new hardware purchased.
Fortunately for your client he had not purchased the hardware yet and it was a hardware compatability.
Ours is 100% software, it would cost more to change the systems at this point than it did to get everything setup. Ohwell : (
I also have other venders fighting with Vista.
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