Dell pushing Vista, discontinues free XP downgrade option
By Jonathan Schlaffer
All of us should be aware by now that the last day to get the OEM XP option is approaching fast, just two weeks remain. As a result, manufacturers that offered free XP downgrade options are starting to cancel that option and Dell is one of them.
June 18 is the last day you will be able get to the XP downgrade option on Dell Inspiron desktops and laptops. So if you are desperate to get a new computer with XP then I suggest you buy it now, as in right now.
According to Dell, after June 18 the company will offer Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate with a downgrade service to Windows XP Professional for an extra fee. I guess Home Premium editions get left out.
But it won’t be offered for all their systems, the aforementioned option will only be available on XPS 630, 720H2C and M1730 systems until June 30.
Microsoft said it would listen to consumers if they wanted XP to be offered after June 30 but clearly the company only hears what it wants to here. I believe that if Dell could continue to offer XP, it would. Microsoft is the bigger enemy here.
Oh sure, XP will continue to be available on low-end UMPCs with a single core processor, 1GB of memory and a hard drive that is 80GB or less after June 30. Microsoft: continuing to offer XP is either continuing to offer it or don’t offer it at all, not some “zombified” version of it.
The only reason the company does offer it on UMPCs is to combat the influx of a number of Linux-based UMPCs. Soon will come the time when its operating system share starts to slip just like Internet Explorer continues to lose ground to Firefox or other alternative browsers.
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June 16th, 2008
Dell speaks with two voices ?
In a letter to some of Dells customers, they said that “XP Professional is available for OEM installation on your Dell PC purchases through at least 2009 and likely longer.” The “official” OEM and retail end date from Microsoft is June 30, 2008, just a few weeks away. There has been much talk of whether Microsoft would bow to the demand of the consumers to keep XP alive, and with this it is still hard to tell if Dell bought a years stock of licenses ahead of time, or if this is the precursor to an announcement from Microsoft.
Dell’s plan for users is to have Windows XP Professional installed on their machines, but include the Vista install disk for when they are ready to upgrade. “With XP installed, we will send media for both Vista and XP with each PC so that when you are ready to migrate to Vista you may at no addition upgrade cost.” The demand seems high, so let’s hope others follow suit to allow companies the time and resources to fully upgrade.
The email reads as follows:
Good Morning,
I hope you had a good weekend. The purpose of this email is two-fold.
1. Because you are in our Relationship division, XP Professional is available for OEM installation on your Dell PC purchases through at least 2009 and likely longer. I will keep you updated on its availability over the coming months/years as I receive information. The PCs that XP is available on at no additional charge are our Relationship lines: Latitudes, Precisions and Optiplexes. On Vostro units, there is a small charge that will vary but I will communicate that with each quote. With XP installed, we will send media for both Vista and XP with each PC so that when you are ready to migrate to Vista you may at no addition upgrade cost. Of course, XP will continue to be available if you are using Vista Business Open Licensing agreements’ downgrade rights also.
2. My team and I’s phone numbers have changed as we transition to VOIP. Please note the information below.
If you have any questions/concerns about the XP/Vista issue or anything else please let me know.
Thank you again for your business and I look forward to speaking with you
Matt
June 17th, 2008
Seriously, it might be a good time to check out other options like Linux. Linux Mint 5 is a fine example of Linux getting it right.
No bloatware, no activation WGA issues and most importantly no DRM to crawl your system to a turtles pace.
http://www.linuxmint.com/rel_elyssa.php