Digital Daily » downgrade

Windows XP: It Lives Again

John Paczkowski — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:11:34 +0000

Windows XP is almost nine years old. And it will be almost 11 before it’s finally retired for good, now that Microsoft has once again extended XP downgrade rights.

Said Microsoft: “Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate customers will have the option to downgrade to Windows XP Professional from PCs that ship within 18 months following the general availability of Windows 7 or until the release of a Windows 7 service pack, whichever is sooner, and if a service pack is developed.”

This means OEMs could still be selling XP-equipped PCs as late as April 2011. Which is astonishing when you recall that the company originally planned to cut off sales of XP on Jan. 30, 2008, one year after Windows Vista debuted. But the poor reception given Vista and the unwavering loyalty of XP users caused the company to extend that deadline to June 30, 2008. A few months later, Microsoft (MSFT) pushed the deadline out further, to Jan. 31, 2009. Then, amid reports that more than a third of all new Vista PCs were being downgraded to XP, Redmond extended the XP deadline to May 30, 2009. The company subsequently pushed that extension out to April 22, 2010.

And now we’re into mid-2011.

I'd Like a Copy of Windows Vista "XP Edition," Please

John Paczkowski — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:31:32 +0000

Microsoft (MSFT) has extended the availability of Windows XP nearly as many times as it has extended the ship dates of Windows Vista and Office 2007. The company had planned to cut off XP sales through the retail and original equipment manufacturer channels on Jan. 30, 2008, one year after Vista’s debut. But the poor reception given the new OS and “feedback” from XP advocates gave it pause to reconsider. So Microsoft adjusted the deadline to June 30.

Which makes today XP’s last on the retail market. From now on, if you want to run Windows XP on a new machine, you’ll need to purchase Windows Vista and then “downgrade” to its predecessor, which Microsoft will continue to support until 2014.

That "Downgrade" to XP Option Sure Worked Wonders, Didn't It?

John Paczkowski — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:02:08 +0000

You wouldn’t know it from the protests over Microsoft’s decision to retire Windows XP at the end of June or the PC users exercising their Windows Vista downgrade rights, but Vista is actually selling quite well. Microsoft (MSFT) Chairman Bill Gates said today that sales of Windows Vista have reached 140 million copies worldwide. “That’s a very rapid sales rate,” Gates explained.

Sure is. Especially for an operating system that’s met with such a middling reception. That said, you’ve got to wonder if the 140 million copies to which Gates refers are deployed copies or licenses sold. Because if it’s the latter, the number would be decidedly less impressive. It wouldn’t really account for volume licenses sold to corporate customers, copies pre-installed on OEM computers, and copies downgraded to Windows XP. And Gates has made exactly this type of oblique statement before, the last time Microsoft announced Vista sales figures.