Vista has not killed Windows XP for emerging markets
By Jonathan Schlaffer
Windows XP will no longer be available to consumers in the U.S. by June 30 of this year and by Jan. 31 of 2009 it will no longer be available to PC manufacturers. That doesn’t mean other parts of the world won’t be able to get Windows XP.
With the beginnings of a class action lawsuit against Microsoft, it’s like the proverbial eye of the company is slowly starting to open. Vista is a resource hog, it is slow and has had compatibility problems since day one; even on systems that claimed to be “optimized” for it.
The developed world may have to live with Vista, get used to Linux or switch to Mac OSX but those in developing nations have a couple more years to get their hands on Windows XP, according to InfoWorld.
Window XP Starter Edition will continue to be sold in developing nations on low-end computers until June 30, 2010. The problem with XP Starter is that it is pretty much useless. Display resolution is limited to 800 x 600, only three programs can be run at any given time and there’s no support for Microsoft Networking so no PC-to-PC communications is allowed outside of TCP/IP, lovely, isn’t it?
“Advantages” include localized versions of Windows XP SE available to the region it is being sold in. What would you prefer, localized support or something that’s not quite so useless?
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April 2nd, 2008
I think Paul Thurrott from Windows Weekly (http://twit.tv/ww) made some excellent points in Visita’s defense. Yes it is a resource hog compared to XP and yes there are several compatiblity issues, but when Windows 7 comes out we’ll be saying the exact same thing about that OS compared to Vista. Its a new Microsoft OS, so of course its going to run slower than its previous version (not that this is something we should accept, but it seems to be Microsoft’s track record that new OS systems will run slower than its precessors). Plus, the OS was rewritten from the ground up, so of course there are going to be compatibility issues with older programs, peripherials, etc. Plus, Vista is going to be able to work with new technologies where XP isn’t going to be able to provide support. I’m no Windows fan boy, but I still enjoy seeing both sides of the argument.
I don’t know how I feel about them pulling XP off the market. I think we need to continue to be moving forward in advances in OS systems, which supports the idea of forcing PCs to come with Vista. But at the same time, if XP works and works better in several cases, why fix what ain’t broken.
April 2nd, 2008
XP brought a lot to the table. Firewall, System Restore, wireless, auto dll rollback and on and on. Vista brought Aero and some small security updates and some networking enhancements.
Vista was an “advance” for Microsoft. The pain definitely out weighed the gain. Stop with the 98 and XP comparisons. Try 98 and Millennium, if you want to be more accurate.
I can see why any emerging market would want a crapped down XP version when Linux kicks the full version of XP’s ass and is free and available.
April 4th, 2008
please continue xp.vista is too slow and more hard,compared to window XP