News Microsoft offering XP downgrade

[Da Dego]

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/09...xp_downgrade/1

Microsoft is offering a downgrade to Windows XP for customers that purchased an OEM computer with Vista Ultimate or Business preinstalled.

[Mankz]

I know that our school PCs used to be able to log on and print something off in under 1min under XP pro, where as its now closer to 5 with Vista.

I have a copy of vista here, but I won't be upgrading to it from XP for a while to come.

[Redbeaver]

Vista supporter here ^^

its more than half-a-year already.. its time to put the nail in XP's coffin :P

[noobarino]

win 98 or winxp cheesecake

[Djpuk]

Only really good if the manufacturer has written XP drivers, we tried to downgrade one of the new HP notebooks recently and you will find problems as some components have not had XP drivers written for them, well at least not yet anyway!

[will.]

I'm happy with vista, but I see where businesses are coming from. As a home user I'm having a few problems. I can't imagine the sort of hell setting up 100's of vista machines would cause.

[Enak]

Worth having a look at this Microsoft Information Sheet

Further information from OEM system builders site.

Originally Posted by http://oem.microsoft.com/script/contentpage.aspx?PageID=552836

What are Downgrade Rights?
Downgrade rights are an end-user right and are documented in the product End-user license agreement. Downgrade rights refer to the ability of your customers to acquire the most recent version of Microsoft software but continue to run a previous version until they are ready to upgrade.
When and Why Would Customers Use Downgrade Rights?
Your customer is purchasing a new computer system and it needs to run the same operating system as their existing 10 systems—Windows XP Professional. You can preinstall Windows Vista Business on the new computer system, then offer your customer the added service of installing Windows XP Professional on your customers' behalf. The downgrade media must be supplied to you from the end user and must come from a legally licensed version of Microsoft retail, OEM/System Builder, or Volume License channels.

If the end customer decides to downgrade, they can use one legal version of the downgrade media for multiple installations. The end customer does not need to have one set of Windows XP Professional media for each PC they are downgrading because they have acquired legitimate full operating system licenses for Windows Vista Business , which gave them the right to downgrade. Your customer can run Windows XP Professional until they are ready to upgrade the system to Windows Vista Business—and at that time they would already be licensed for the Windows Vista Business they purchased with this new machine.

When an end user is using their downgrade rights offered under the License Terms in Windows Vista Business and Ultimate versions and they use both Windows XP media and a product key that was previously activated, they will fail activation due to the hardware configuration change when installing on the Vista system. In these cases the end user will be prompted to call the Activation Support Line and explain their circumstances to the Customer Service Representative. Once it is determined that the end user has a valid Vista Business or Ultimate license, the Customer Service Representative will help them activate their software.

[phuzz]

We had 4 brand new Dell laptops into work last week, two of the managers decided to keep XP (including my boss, the head of IT), the other two insisted on Vista.
Fortunately I had loads of Dell XP install disks lying around, and because it's a dell, you will never be asked for an installation key, it just validates. Handy eh?

[DXR_13KE]

most people are still waiting for SP1.....

[completemadness]

Originally Posted by DXR_13KE

most people are still waiting for SP1.....

most people are going to be disappointed IMO

SP1 is mainly a rollup of all the fixes to date, plus a few more
It doesn't change the "vista experience" so if your waiting for SP1, your wasting your time

I think the problem is, XP was plagued with issues when it was released, i remember all the bad press, then SP1 came out, it fixed most of the XP issues (a lot of which was compatibility if my memory serves)
However, vista SP1 really isn't going to do that (imo) so if you want vista, you'd do just as well to get it now

[wuyanxu]

Vista? problem? those 2 words never stays in 1 sentence in my book.

installed Vista on a Sempron 2800 computer, worked very well, installed Vista on my shinny new rig, worked even better.

i can't see why anyone know how to use a computer have problem with Vista. (know how to use a computer also includes know how to pick a graphics card)
and i can't see why new computers shouldn't have Vista

[craigey1]

I don't think it's just a case of how well (or badly) Vista performs compared to XP. I found out about the downgrade option today by googling as my step-dad has just bought 4 PC pre-installed with Vista Ultimate & the accountancy software for his company wont work on them. It's either downgrading or £300 to buy the latest version of the accounts software.

There's also some other specific software that wont work on Vista either & it could be very expensive to upgrade to the latest versions, (that's if some of them even have a version that works with Vista).

so, yeah. I think it's a good idea. Otherwise it'd cost 4*£80 (£320) to purchase new XP licences for the PC's.

[DXR_13KE]

the problem comes from hardware and software companies that create "spaghetti" code, it works ok on XP but its a headache to modify or port to other OS.

[automagsrock]

I have been using Vista since April and I love it. I won't go back to XP on my main PC. My Macbook will be dual-booting XP, but that's about it.

[Tulatin]

What i find laughable here is that vista's downgrade will be available at little or no charge. So, then, you charge people to downgrade eh? WTF guys?

[Enak]

Why would you buy a vista machine to downgrade?

The process is simple and wouldn't cost someone who knows how anything.

But if you don't know how to install windows, you'd have to pay someone to do it for you. That's gonna cost.

[proxess]

Originally Posted by automagsrock

My Macbook will be dual-booting XP

if you have a macbook... why on earth do you have something ruining something like windows?

[bloodcar]

Originally Posted by Tulatin

What i find laughable here is that vista's downgrade will be available at little or no charge. So, then, you charge people to downgrade eh? WTF guys?

The charge from OEMs is for the price of the disc. Normally they charge you around $5 for a recovery cd anyways so it's not a real big deal.

[ralph.pickering]

Originally Posted by wuyanxu

i can't see why anyone know how to use a computer have problem with Vista. (know how to use a computer also includes know how to pick a graphics card) and i can't see why new computers shouldn't have Vista

And therein lies the problem. A lot of companies, like the one I do support for, have users who use a computer for their job, but haven't a clue how to "use a computer". They learn just what they need to know in order to do their job, but are clueless about anything else. My day is spent dealing with calls such as "is the server down?" (We have over 20 servers idiot - which one?), or "is the internet down?" (of course... the whole internet is down... pfft). Most of them won't even read an error message let alone comprehend what it is saying. So suddenly putting a laptop in front of them where all the shortcuts are in different places, and you have to work out (slightly) different ways of doing the same things - well they'll either have brain meltdown or be on the phone to me every 5 minutes saying "how do I ...".

So most IT people are probably thinking, like myself; wait till most of them have bought new home computers with Vista, and are forced to learn the basics on their own time. That way when you give them Vista in a year or so, no problems. Hell, I haven't even got round to putting Vista on any of my own machines - even though I've got an OEM copy of Ultimate edition that's been sitting in my cupboard for 6 months. I just can't be bothered, although I suppose I'll have to fairly soon.

[Enak]

To me, the issue is more of a question as to whether my customers will a) pay for the cost to upgrade a perfectly capable system b) pay to upgrade the perfectly capable staff.

In business, cost is always the bottom line.