It looks like HP and Dell are going to continue shipping XP machines well past the June 30 expiry date, both manufacturers making use of “downgrade rights” offered as part of the Windows Vista license agreement.
While new XP orders will phase out from mid-June this year, new customers will be able to pick up Vista machines, pre-downgraded to XP on request, a practice I’ve seen many people make use of since Vista was unleashed on the public.
Barring the look and feel of the Vista interface, I’ve still not spoken with someone thoroughly happy with XP’s successor as a choice of operating system.
However, come June this will apply only to those ordering machines in the Windows Vista Business or Ultimate Edition specs as standard home models can’t be downgraded. The upside is, if you do decide to upgrade to Vista at any point after your purchase, the upgrade is already catered and paid for.
I’ll be weening myself off XP before the end of the year as it is. I’ve no intention at all of upgrading to Vista and with the purchase of the N95 now out of the way, the next target on the list is a new iMac for the house. The Mac Pro is just a little too far out of budget for the moment…
If you’re a real friend, you’ll maintain your XP Pro Gold CD-ROM in scratch-free condition for at least another three years. Lots of school teachers will appreciate your forethought.
I was talking to a friend last night who bought a new Vista laptop two months ago. It’s been a nightmare for him, nothing but trouble. Now he can’t even save files or do simple print jobs without running into problems. Thank goodness my brother heeded the advice to go through Dell’s SME channel to get an XP Vostro.
@Bernie I’ve got my XP disc locked away *very* safely. No shiny gold edition though 🙂
@James I’d believe it. A friend of mine picked up a Vista laptop from Dell running on a gig of ram… desperate stuff. Even toying around on a client’s Vista laptop during the week proved a chore. Anyone who asks me for OS advice on a PC gets the same answer each time… “tell them you want XP”.