Facebook Plunges Again
Tumblr 101: Tips And Tricks To Get Started
Campaign launched to save Windows XP from retirement
Like any company in the software business, Microsoft relies on planned obsolescence. In other words, a few years after Microsoft sells you an operating system, office suite, or accounting application, the company has to convince you that you need a newer version of that software. The alternative would be to charge a few thousand dollars up front for every piece of software which would be more of a boon for the free software movement than it would be for Microsoft.Historically, Microsoft has done a pretty good job of releasing new versions of its software every few years with enough bug fixes or new features to convince people to upgrade. But a funny thing happened when Microsoft released Windows XP. People were generally happy with it. And five years later when Microsoft released Windows Vista, people weren't particularly happy. Not only were they finding bugs in Vista, but many computer users just don't feel that Vista can do much that XP can't.
So Microsoft, which had planned to stop selling Windows XP to users and computer manufacturers late last year extended that date until June 30th of this year. But something tells us that if Microsoft follows through on this promise, there's going to be a huge market for used copies of Windows XP.
That's why we're happy to see that InfoWorld has launched a "Save XP" campaign. The goal is to get as many people as possible to sign an online petition. Your names, but not your email addresses will be sent to Microsoft in an attempt to change the company's mind.
Look, we're not saying that Windows Vista isn't a capable operating system that works perfectly well for some users under the right circumstances. But as long as there are people out there who are willing to pay for Windows XP because the prefer a stable, well-tested operating system, it doesn't make much sense for Microsoft to turn them away.
Comments
9
Subscribe to commentsRich KJan 14th 2008 2:43PM
XP has had many years to mature and become a stable, reliable OS. Vista is new and hasn't had time to mature. Many people didn't want to migrate to XP when it first came out and waited until SP1 for all the bug fixes. Sound familiar?
jfjbJan 14th 2008 3:39PM
funny infoworld, it says SUMMIT and loops back to SUMMIT which loops back to SUMMIT, itself returning to SUMMIT, and in turn re-showing the same screen, info and SUMMIT button.
SO did I summit 4 times before I jumped out with my FireFox tab list?
I so, then it sounds like voting in Florida.
DG10050Jan 14th 2008 4:55PM
Funny jfjb, looks like you just submitted two comments. I'd suggest only clicking buttons once. :P
jfjbJan 16th 2008 4:13PM
I leave in Florida, what can I say?
( smiling )
Hany HannaJan 14th 2008 7:06PM
Rich K, What kind of logic is that? Are we supposed to start at square 1 because MS wants to sell a new OS? I NEVER want Vista....tried it and I know I'll NEVER use it. I'll switch to Linux or even a MAC first. Microsoft is shooting themselves in their foot.
ryan kubaJan 14th 2008 7:08PM
Microsoft has something called downgrade rights for Vista to XP.
I sell software and when you talk operating systems you sell something called Windows Vista Business Upgrade which in our world translates to "I want Windows XP" .
This whole campaign is completely retarded. XP not being sold as an OEM bundle is the only major impact and I guarantee it is not MS pushing that ,it is companies like Dell saying they don't want to image 3 different OS's for every machine.
Gardiner WestboundJan 14th 2008 7:09PM
I'll stick with XP regardless of Microsoft's support. I'm still using Office 2000. It's good enough for me.
If MS somehow throws a spanner into the works I'll switch to Mepis Linux and OpenOffice permanently. They're running on my old computer and work just fine.
hazardJan 14th 2008 9:29PM
isn't this a tad premature considering SP3 for XP is on it's way?
JoeJan 15th 2008 8:54AM
This is so stupid...InfoWorld should really spend its time on investigating stories