Most Popular
| Top Stories | Commented | Featured |
ATI Radeon HD 5570 Review featured
AMD's six-core Thuban to have feature like Turbo Boost?
Google to launch Twitter-like service for Gmail
Intel Core i5-based MacBook Pros coming soon?
Intel unveils Itanium 9300 series enterprise processors
Netflix to roll out 1080p streaming later this year
China closes major hacker ring, arrests three members
Sharp and Samsung end LCD patent suits with cross-licensing agreement
TS Community
| User Gallery | Recent Discussion |
 sleeping by blackhawke |  My New Rig Nearly Ready by jtickner1 |
 Desktop Revised by larryiam |  Windows 7 preview screenshots @ PDC by Julio |
TechSpot RSSIndustry News
No more OEM Windows XP in January
The bell is tolling for Windows XP, with Microsoft's plan to pull OEM copies as an option for system builders. In short, any PC bought from a retailer that has Windows must come with Vista - regardless of what the customer wants.
While you can already find a plethora of retail machines running Vista, there are still many people who for reason or another, be it lack of drivers for hardware or poor application support, would rather get a machine running XP. In January, that'll no longer be possible. Many businesses are still ordering machines running XP in bulk due to concerns over Vista, so there could be some backlash if the issues aren't addressed before then. Retail availability will probably still last for a while afterwards, but part of the reason people choose OEM is the cost reduction.
While you can already find a plethora of retail machines running Vista, there are still many people who for reason or another, be it lack of drivers for hardware or poor application support, would rather get a machine running XP. In January, that'll no longer be possible. Many businesses are still ordering machines running XP in bulk due to concerns over Vista, so there could be some backlash if the issues aren't addressed before then. Retail availability will probably still last for a while afterwards, but part of the reason people choose OEM is the cost reduction.
Related Stories
User Comments (8)
Post a comment| al92lt1 on April 12, 2007 7:55 PM | There is an outfit in the Reno area that advertises on the
radio offering to remove Vista from your computer and
install Windows XP. I wonder what they charge for this
wonderful "service"?
|
| otester on April 13, 2007 3:31 AM | ^Can you not just do it yourself?
|
| Michel Merlin on April 13, 2007 3:45 AM | Is TechSpot.com still an INFORMATION Technology company, or
not? If they care about INFORMATION they should display the
dates with reasonable unambiguity. Here it should be "In
January 08"; it's not enough to write "In January", which
lets plenty readers waste a fraction of a second wondering
if this news was written in December 06 targeting Jan 07
then incompletely updated before posting Thu 12 Apr
07. Versailles, Fri 13 Apr 2007 10:45:45 +0200
|
| windmill007 on April 13, 2007 6:51 AM | Stupid... They should just get rid of Vista OEM instead. XP
Rocks. Wish someone could just take over and update XP. I
say they should make software more leaner not bloated. To me
VISTA is like Windows ME was...Overly bloated. Owell Rock on
XP!!!
|
| buttus on April 13, 2007 10:37 AM | Here comes the squeeze. Ending OEM XP is the first step to eventually deleting the SKU and the support and force the eventual migration to Vista...even though there are extremely few reasons to actually make that upgrade. At least we are done the OS moves for sometime. I have been happy with what, almost 5 years on XP and I won't personally upgrade to Vista til much later this year or early next (I'll certainly wait until at least service pack 1 is issued). The end is nigh my friends.
|
| Jibberish18 on April 13, 2007 12:27 PM | I am completely against this and I think it's complete B.S.
I don't think the consumer should have an option to pick one
or the other....I think they should get both! How about if
you're someone that wants to use XP because of it's
compatibility but still plans to install Vista sometime in
the future? You're screwed. It's bad enough that most
companies don't even send you the original OS disc, but now
you don't have a choice as to what you want? Just another
reason for consumers to build their own computers or have
them custom built but one of the smaller
companies. [Edited by Jibberish18 on 2007-04-13 12:36:37] [Edited by Jibberish18 on 2007-04-13 12:37:08]
|
| ramakin on April 15, 2007 6:29 AM | I think we should all give Bill a big "see ya later" Has a
real bad habit of giving us what he wants!What ever happaned
to "the customer is always right"? Apple is looking really
good and I think we should all say no to Bill!! No means No Bill!!! We want XP you can Keep Vista!!
|
| hanaleia on April 18, 2007 12:16 PM | Those greedy buggers! Bill is making Apple look right tasty.
I am definately going to Unix on my second HD and will have
to be dragged kicking and screaming into Vista. Why do we
all continue to grovel at Bill's feet and allow him so much
power over our wallets? Could someone refresh my memory
please, what was so bad about XP again?
|
