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XP rides off into the distance

by on01 July 2008

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The countdown to Windows 7 begins

We have been monitoring closely over the past several months the fact that Microsoft is going to stop selling Windows XP on all but ultra low cost PCs. The last day finally arrived yesterday and now the countdown to Windows 7 begins.

As we have explained on several occasions, although Microsoft has stopped selling Windows XP, you still have a few options to get Windows XP if you need it. Of course you have the option to downgrade from Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows XP. If that option does not appeal to you or you don’t want to go through that hassle, then you will have to seek out a reseller that still is selling copies of Windows XP.

Many resellers have been stocking up for several months to be prepared for this day and have ample numbers of Windows XP licenses in stock for customers who have to have it. The problem is that starting today the price for Windows XP licenses will start to slowly escalate as in stock inventory is depleted.

We have to pause for a moment and reflect on the fact the Windows XP has out lived every expectation that anyone ever had for it. While some periods with the OS have been rocky and the OS has had more patches and security updates that most of us can even keep track of, it has been a very good OS platform that really exceeded the expectations that most of us ever had for it. No matter if you moved from Windows 98, Windows ME, or Windows 2000 to Windows XP, in the end you really could not complain.

While the displeasure with Windows Vista continues, many companies and enterprise users are already turning their attention to Windows 7 which Microsoft is promising in 2009. It is being viewed as critical for Microsoft to be able to deliver Windows 7 on time and for it to be better than Windows Vista to gain acceptance from corporate and enterprise customers, as well as end users who did not embrace Windows Vista.

It is too early perhaps to predict if Microsoft will be able to make 2009 with Windows 7, but the bigger question is if customers might be betting too much on the release of Windows 7. If history has taught us anything about Microsoft and Windows it is the fact that it takes time for Microsoft to get it right. Not every version of Windows was perfect, in fact far from it. Microsoft has laid some duds along the way.

The biggest complaints that we hear about Vista is that it is too slow and unstable. The reality is that the unstable part of Vista can be tracked back to immature drivers and as with Windows XP the drivers will improve. As for performance, that is something that Microsoft will need to continue to work on with Vista. From our experience in order to get Vista running well, you do need the latest hardware with 4GB of RAM, and needless to say most computers are not pushing Vista’s hardware specs.

Efforts to save Windows XP till Windows 7 is released have largely failed. The best news is that Microsoft will continue to release security patches and updates to Windows XP till 2014, rather than 2009 as they originally planned.

Last modified on 01 July 2008
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