It’s ironic ! It seems only Microsoft in the world likes to migrate to Vista
ZDnet reports that HP, Lenovo join Dell in extending Windows XP. It’s very ironic! It’s also interesting. Why MicroSoft just want to upgrade to a software that most customers and partners dislike or even hate? Meanwhile, why a brandnew OS that Microsoft spent billions of dollars to develop doesn’t get any acceptance by the users?
This is not just because of the higher hardware resources needed by Vista. Today, 1GB memory only cost less than 20$. It’s very cheap. The real reason is that the users can not find a reason for them to upgrade. They just can not convince themselves and the board.
A few days ago, Microsoft released Windows XP SP3 and Vista SP1. From the web reports, the performance of Vista SP1 doesn’t get improved, while XP SP3 is more satisfying to most of users. That’s the point.
The below is the report by ZDNet.
Rumors of Windows XP’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
I wrote about Dell’s downgrade program in a post earlier this week (Windows Vista just can’t catch a break). It looks like Dell may have started something. Both HP and Lenovo now plan to offer Windows XP to business customers after Microsoft’s official cut-off date of June 30.
Lenovo will provide a Windows XP recovery disc with systems so that users can downgrade from Windows Vista until January 31, 2009, according to Information Week. The downgrade program covers laptops and desktops with Vista Business or Ultimate.
HP said it will offer Windows XP to business customers for an unspecified time beyond June 30.
Dell’s program covers OptiPlex desktops and laptops, Latitude laptops, and Precision workstations. Those systems come with Windows XP pre-installed but include a copy of Vista Business or Ultimate so customers can upgrade when they are ready. The Vostro desktops and laptops for small and medium-size businesses, and some XPS gaming systems, will also continue to offer the downgrade service for a fee.
Though it has been widely reported that the Dell downgrade option would be good through 2010, (when Microsoft is set to release Windows 7) Dell now says the program will last as long as “Microsoft supports it,” according to Information Week.
This comes after CEO Steve Ballmer suggested earlier this week that Microsoft might change its mind and extend Windows XP if customers asked for it. But he said the majority of new systems ship with Vista, and so far they haven’t seen customers asking for Windows XP.
Not everyone is convinced. Microsoft reported quarterly earnings on Thursday and revenues in the client division fell a little short, which The New York Times’ Steve Lohr writes could be a sign the company has a problem with Vista. Meanwhile InfoWorld Editor-in-Chief Eric Knorr has collected more than 160,000 signatures for his Save Windows XP petition (complete with countdown clock).
Microsoft has already announced that Windows XP will continue to be available specifically for ultra low-cost systems that do not meet the system requirements for Vista.
John Morris is a former executive editor at CNET Networks and senior editor at PC Magazine. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
Users report more trouble with Windows XP SP3
May 20, 2008, By Elizabeth Montalbano, Network World Asia
http://www.networksasia.net/article.php?type=article&id_article=3667
The latest service pack for Windows XP continues to cause problems for users. According to an online user forum, the latest glitch in Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) causes problems with the remote desktop access feature of Windows Home Server.
On the We Got Served U.K.-based Windows user forum, Windows XP users running Windows Home Server, Microsoft’s home storage and local networking server, report that SP3 is cutting off their access to the server from their PCs. The remote desktop access feature would ask users to add their home server’s Web site address in order to access it even after they already had, users reported.
According to a user on Microsoft’s Windows Home Server forum, the problem arose because Windows XP SP3 by default disables Terminal Services Active X control as part of its security model. The user, ColinWH, posted a fix for the problem that outlines how to enable the Terminal Services ActiveX control in Internet Explorer.
The Windows Home Server problem is not the first that users — or Microsoft — have had with the latest XP service pack. Scheduled for release on April 29, Windows XP SP3 was held up for a week by Microsoft because of incompatibilities between the service pack and one of Microsoft’s own applications, retail chain management software called Microsoft Dynamics RMS. The problem even affected the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 set of updates.
Then, after the service pack’s release on May 6, users reported that XP SP3 put some AMD-based PCs into endless reboots. Eventually, the problem was identified as affecting certain Hewlett-Packard PCs, and Microsoft posted information for fixing it on the Web.
Microsoft could not be immediately reached for comment on Monday.