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Skriven 2010-07-13 22:51:08 av TOM WALKER (1:123/140)
Ärende: Win XP won't go away
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Windows XP just won't go away
By David Goldman, staff writerJuly 13, 2010: 3:30 PM ET


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Windows XP, which debuted nine years ago in
2001, will continue to be with us for yet another decade.

Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) announced late Monday that it would allow
some Windows 7 customers to buy Windows XP "downgrade" licenses until
January 2020. Those licenses allow customers to swap out the newer
operating system and instead install a legal copy of the older one.

Microsoft initially planned to let Windows 7 customers downgrade to Windows
XP only through April 2010, but that end-date was quickly extended until
October 2011. Now, the company says it will extend the downgrade option
through the entire Windows 7 sales cycle, which is scheduled to last until
January 2020.

The move is intended to appease business customers, many of whom skipped an
upgrade cycle by ignoring the widely panned Windows Vista.

Though the software giant said its customers are moving quickly to adopt
the newest Windows version, it acknowledged that some still want the option
to downgrade. A full 74% of Microsoft's business customers are still using
the outdated Windows XP, Windows marketing head Tami Reller said this week
at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington, D.C.

The extension means that Windows XP will live for 19 years -- about four
times longer than most computers last. For context, downgrading to XP at
the end of this decade would be like a current Windows user downgrading to
Windows 3.1, which went on sale in 1992.

"XP has survived in large part because of Vista, which was an unmitigated
disaster," said Daniel Ruby, research director at Chitika Inc. "Corporate
IT departments are wary of doing anything until they're sure things are
going to work. They're not willing to go from something that works to
something that doesn't work as well."

Still, it's unlikely that many customers will stick with Windows XP for too
much longer: Microsoft's support for the operating system is set to end in
April 2014.

Ruby said he expects most large corporations to migrate to Windows 7 in 12
to 18 months. The operating system has been available for eight months, but
companies typically wait more than a year before adopting a new Windows
release, he said.
0:00 /1:29Ballmer on Windows 7 for mobile

In the meantime, Microsoft said corporate demand for new computers that can
run XP remains high. "Our business customers have told us that the removing
[of] end-user downgrade rights to Windows XP Professional could be
confusing," Microsoft said in a company blog post.

That's because sticking with an October 2011 downgrade-to-XP deadline would
have forced corporate IT departments to migrate by then or deal with a
mishmash of operating systems and licenses. While PCs purchased before
October 2011 with Windows 7 preinstalled would be able to be downgraded to
Windows XP, new machines bought after that date would not legally be able
to run the aging software.

Confusing matters even more, Windows Vista customers are allowed to
downgrade to Windows XP anytime they want, with no deadline. So if a
company wanted to run Windows XP and bought some computers before Windows 7
debuted, some computers before October 2011, and some computers after that
date, it would have to keep track of three different license agreements
with Microsoft.

"Managing a hybrid environment with PCs that have different end-user rights
based on date of purchase would be challenging to track," Microsoft said in
the blog. "This will help maintain consistency for downgrade rights
throughout the Windows 7 lifecycle."

Only customers that bought the Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate versions
are eligible for the downgrade to Windows XP Professional.

The change also only affects companies that don't subscribe to Microsoft's
volume licensing or Software Assurance programs. Those buying arrangements,
popular with large companies, allow IT departments to go almost Paleolithic
with their systems: Those customers can install any Windows version dating
all the way back to Windows 95. 
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