Updated – 08-08-08 Business PC buyers are still overwhelmingly opting for Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows XP according to HP (HPQ). Rob Kingston, Group Manager of Commercial Product Marketing for HP said in an article in APC, “Looking into the crystal ball, I don’t think businesses will see much value in upgrading to Vista until late next year, and even so, Microsoft will probably have come out with something else by then.”
Today 06-30-08 was the last day Windows XP was officially available for purchase from retail outlets, major resellers, and OEM hardware manufacturers. That of course does not mean XP is completely gone. There is still a handful of ways to get your mitts on XP.
- Users that have Vista Ultimate and Vista Business licenses can choose to downgrade to Windows XP if they wish. Dell (DELL) is offering the downgrade option through January 31, 2009, and HP will offer the XP downgrade option on most of its business desktops and notebooks through at least July 30, 2009.
- Smaller software resellers will be able to sell Windows XP until January 2009, they just can’t buy any more copies.
- Another place to look would be eBay, as always, Caveat emptor.
- Microsoft will continue to sell XP for ultraportable laptops or Nettops such as the ASUS (2357) Eee.
Microsoft says it will continue to offer tech support for Windows XP until the end of 2009 and offer limited support in some form until 2014 by then, Microsoft should have released Windows 7, the next version of its desktop OS.
Related articles
- Still on Windows XP? Don’t wait until Windows 8 to upgrade! (arstechnica.com)
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.