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Windows Vista ME?

vista_me.jpgIf you hang on to Windows XP long enough, you may be able to upgrade directly to Windows 7, avoiding Vista entirely–just as many Windows users avoided the lamentable Windows ME.

On Thursday, Microsoft (MSFT) extended XP’s oft-extended stay-of-execution, saying it will continue to sell Windows XP Home for ultra low-cost PCs (ULCPCs) — budget machines like the Asus Eee PC that would likely spontaneously combust during a Vista install. XP Home will be available for OEM installation on ULCPCs until June 30, 2010, or one year after general availability of the next Windows version, whichever is later. But its availability for all other machines will end on June 30, 2008.

Such a limited extension of XP’s availability will no doubt irk those users who would love to continue using the OS indefinitely. That said, it’s a savvy move for Microsoft which, had it pulled XP from the shelves entirely, might have ceded the ULPC market to Linux. “This is yet another proof point that Windows Vista is just too big to cover everything that everyone wants to do with it,” said Gartner analyst Michael Silver. “You need something smaller, more modular.”

Comments

  1. Try Vixta, all the funtionality of Vista but it actualy works on ULPC. Vixta.org

    Posted by Frank Ducharme at April 6th, 2008 at 4:25 am

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John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper. Read more »

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