Microsoft further extends Windows XP support
Microsoft system builder partners who’ve been feeling queasy about the impending Jan. 31, 2009, deadline for selling PCs with Windows XP pre-installed can now breathe a bit easier, as Microsoft is giving them a way to obtain XP licenses through distribution after the deadline.In an e-mail to ChannelWeb, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the existence of a flexible inventory program that will allow distributors to place their final orders for Windows XP OEM licenses by Jan. 31, 2009, and take delivery against those orders through May 30. Previously, distributors had planned to purchase as many XP licenses as they could afford before Jan. 31, 2009, and sell them after the deadline. But once that inventory was gone, they’d have no choice but to turn away XP-seeking customers.
Distributors have until Dec. 31 to submit their XP license demand forecasts to Microsoft, and system builders are reportedly being asked to provide their own forecasts to distributors. It’s yet another sign of the market’s resistance to Windows Vista, and of the growing realization within the channel that many customers have decided to simply skip Vista and wait for the arrival of Windows 7. Microsoft says that’s slated for late 2009 or early 2010, but some reports have suggested it could come as early as mid-2009. Distributors say the best part of the new arrangement is that they won’t have to take title to the reserved XP licenses until they’re sold to an end user, which helps them avoid having to sit on inventory for several months, which is a major concern in a low-margin business.
Source: CRN
Comments(22)
Doe’s anybody know (I didn’t really understand it, too many different terms), when will the XP support period end?
For me it means when will MS stops making new patches.(through normally available Windows Update…)
Read this Jack http://windowssecrets.com/2008/11/13/02-How-to-maintain-XP-after-Microsoft-ends-support
Come on Microsoft! Please move forward in OS development.
windows 7 boots a few seconds faster than vista!!!
if they’ll rush into releasing windows 7 (for marketing reasons), it will also be faulty. they should take more time for development.
No need to worry. After April 2009, XP moves into the extended-support period, which is expected to last through Apr. 8, 2014.
Extended support means you will still be able to download Windows Updates and Hotfixes for free, but have to pay to get Microsoft Technical Support. Support for hotfixes and updates will still be free.
So no need to worry, you still have many years yet before they finally pull the plug!
dont see what the problem with vista is as i have it and never had any probs with it at all vista is a good prog but i do agree that xp was good in its days
The problem is you need more hardware and need to pay more money just to do the same things you did before with XP.
For example it is common now many games need 1Gb memory for XP but the exact same game needs 1.5Gb for Vista and also recommended a faster CPU!
So for EXACTLY the same thing as before you already need to buy more hardware and pay more money. The question then becomes…. WHY? XP does everything I need and the only thing missing is Direct X 10 but I am sure eventually that will be on XP, hack version or otherwise. Games companies will be crazy to make DX10 only games yet. So for other uses like Office well, you don’t need Vista for that either.
So when XP runs good, for less money and hardware, why upgrade to continue doing the same things as before? Makes no sense.
So XP SP4 almost a guarantee?
@ XP 4 ever:
Time marches on and soon enough the cost of a PC powerful enough for Vista won´t be a problem. Take a look and you’ll see the difference between 1GB and 2GB of memory is already irrelevant. Games are increasingly demanding of new hardware so whenever your “must have” game comes out in the near future that needs a powerful PC this will be good enough for Vista. That being said, I’ll problaby skip Vista altogether and go for Windows 7 IF its good enough, but that’s another story.
I’d rather buy a Macbook before I buy anything with Vista in it. You know what Vista is? Vista is just a tool to gain Microsoft more money.
@11: What? And you’d rather overpay 30% on hardware and deal with an OS that was written for boons than use Vista? I mean I can understand why not Vista but Mac? Poor alternative. If you don’t need gaming features (or not that many) get acquainted to Linux. No software cost and you can take almost any off the shelve hardware as cheap as it gets. I switched when I read about Vista and DirectX 10 the first time. Go Ubuntu … free updates forever.
use the: windows game booster torrent, when gaming on vista, helps alot
Anyone else think, they should keep support for XP for as long as people want to use it, and developers want to make software for XP? It’s free market, so this kind of regulations are really bad idea.
the probblem for me in vista is explorer is even worse than xp & its not great in xp.
Actually, MS said they’re bringing DX10 to XP. It was supposed to come integrated with the next release DX9.0L, but it was pushed back. You can find hacks of DX10 for XP for the last year. Does it work? Who knows.
Do a search for “DirectX 10 NCT Release 2 for Windows XP”, download and enjoy.
Totally agree whit number 8 as for number 10 u asked yourself why 1 GB DDR is has the same price as 2 GB DDR2 …?
I tell u why: despite the high frequencies DDR2 format is less performant and trustworthy in long term use then DDR format, same is the problem whit AGP/PCI and so long…
@10 I think you miss my point. That is if you use the SAME software on XP or Vista, it will actually cost you more money/hardware. You don’t get the same bang per buck.
Let me give example, Super Gameblaster (imaginary game!)
XP recommended spec: 1Gb Memory, 2Ghz CPU
Vista recommended spec: 1.5Gb Memmory, 2.5Ghz CPU
Do you see the problem here? Even though it is the SAME game, if you install it on Vista then you must have more resources and get less value. FOR THE SAME RESULT.
I don’t argue things move on and there is progress but what is no sense is when you are expected to upgrade and get less for your money just for using the exact same program you did before. The only thing that changed was the operating system!
Why XP instead of Vista? A good example of why Vista is losing MS money and shares is Adobe CS4. Say you have Photoshop and it works fine on XP, and you see a few little new toys in the latest version of Photoshop that you can use or need for your job. Someone want to explain to me just WHY I would need to upgrade to Vista just to get these toys and as such quite probably make it so some of my other programs now dont work in Vista and I now have to have the cost of a new OS/the cost of the new programs that the makers refuse to make patches for (I can understand no patches for 95/Me/NT2000…but not XP when over 90% of the MS public still uses it? C’mon people….) So now I have ended up paying over $4000. for an upgrade? And lets not even start with the hardware.
Understand NOW why Windows 7 that is due out in June of 2009 will stomp Vista’s arse into the ground? Windows 7 IS BACKWARD COMPLIANT WITH XP PROGRAMS!!!
dudes, no one ever talk about that: I don’t like vista just for 1 simple reason, DRM!!!!
IF M$ take out drm, I’ll get (ahem…pirate) vista or 7 or anything from them, until that time come, it’s xp and linux for me.
Just to give everyone an example of how more demanding Vista is:
A single core PC with an amd64 4000+ cpu & 2 gigs of DDR400 runs those same old games (call of duty 4 & team fortress 2) on Vista noticeably worse than XP, even after both XP & Vista have been tweaked and all drivers are latest. Not only are the framerates worse, but every few seconds there is an ever-so-slight stutter.
This simply shouldn’t be so.
Vista sucks.