The last days of Windows XP
Posted 3 July 2008 at 9:07AM by Ian Betteridge in IT systems and support
Monday was officially Windows XP Memorial Day. As of Monday, XP is only available via a small (and shrinking) number of channels, including on small, low-powered laptops and as a "downgrade" for customers who are getting new machines with Windows Vista pre-installed. Other than that, if you want a copy of XP, you'll be out of luck.
It's fair to say that Vista has met with some resistance from customers, particularly larger businesses with hundreds of employees to support. The reasons for this are many and complex, but partly it's down to the sheer logistical nightmare of supporting a new operating system. Making sure that all your systems work together is no mean feat with only one OS to work with - supporting two makes things much more than twice as difficult.
All this contributes to what eWeek columnist Joe Wilcox estimates is around 112 million copies of Windows Vista sold, on about 37% of the total number of PCs shipped. That's still a big number of course, but it's clear that - when offered a choice - consumers have preferred to stick with the OS they know - XP - rather than being tempted by Microsoft's latest.
Tags: bt, bt broadbandoffice, microsoft, windows xp
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Comments
2. At July 3, 2008 10:55 AM, Michael wrote:
Re comment 1 - agree totally and it's getting that way with BT as well.
3. At July 3, 2008 12:08 PM, Jeremy Horsfield wrote:
This is a mis-use of monopoly power. As in comments 1 and 2, Microsoft run the risk of fragmenting the market in much the same way as IBM did in the '70s.
The proper way to launch new software is to provide a simulation mode so that change can be managed in a controlled manner. If SAP can implement continual improvement in a more manageable way, why can't MS.
4. At July 3, 2008 2:33 PM, Jonah wrote:
The high demand for XP shows just how badly Microsoft have got it wrong with Vista. Vista has come into a IT world vastly different from that which XP came into. Microsoft's global domination of almost all aspects of the home computer market is slipping. Internet Explorer is gradually decreasing in use as Firefox's popularity rises, Apple gains more more computer market share every year and Google all but dominates most aspects of the internet. This doesn't even take into account the increasing share of open source with OS's like Ubuntu and of course Open Office.
The market has begun to open up and Microsoft is now struggling to compete. The big white elephant of IT is losing its grip and the problem is that Microsoft has never been able to really successfully innovate, just imitate. They are now finding that the problem with imitation is that it's rarely as good as the original and it means your always behind the competition.
Here's to the beginning of the end for Microsoft, I for one have champagne on standby.
5. At July 3, 2008 8:42 PM, kim wrote:
long live xp
most older pc arent upto running vista, so why should we ditch a perfectly good pc just to run a newer operating system - especially as they have already said that vistas days are numbered as well.
6. At July 4, 2008 2:03 PM, Ian White wrote:
Many of my customers are using specialist software that they have just completed migrating from NT to XP. As the cost can be on the order of £20000 per program they are not looking to change operating systems until they have to. This doesn't take into account all the normal misc software that needs to be replaced plus is Vista still as buggy as XP was when it was published?
7. At July 5, 2008 3:07 PM, Steve wrote:
About time, Vista is so superior to Xp in every way, I run systems with both side by side and XP is just nowhere in comparison to Vista, in stability, updates, automation, loading software and running. Can't imagine why anyone would want to stick with XP.
8. At July 7, 2008 9:58 AM, Simon wrote:
@Steve - what version of Vista do you use? Your own "customized" & "bug free" version?? Please tell us where we can buy that.
9. At July 9, 2008 8:36 AM, James Ramel wrote:
Like Simon I'd like to know where Steve got his version of Vista from. I've had many problems with Vista and none of my software for my business including my accounting software will run on Vista. I've just spent 5 days getting XP back on my new laptop and I'm the happiest man in the office.
10. At July 9, 2008 3:46 PM, Oscar wrote:
I agree with steve. And you wonder where he got that version that is so bug-free? He got it from Microsoft, it's called "SP1". Other than that, if you decided to stop using Vista during the first 5 months it was out or if you ran it on a computer older than 3 years, don't even bother with the bashing.
And for Jonah, I don't think this is the beginning of the end, I would rather say that they finally got their necessary lesson. As the competition rises between any kind of producers, the more important it becomes to be best.
For example: Nvidia have dominated the market for video cards long as the younger generation can remember. They have released new more and more expensive and inefficient cards for a long time without having to worry. And then it happened. ATI released the new HD 48xx cards a few weeks ago leaving the Nvidia cards behind confused in the roaddust at just half the price of the Nvidia cards. Nvidia are allready focusing all their power on a new "surprise" for ATI.
Vista appealed to regular desktop users and gamers like me, but not as much to the other markets the Microsoft needs so badly. Windows 7, however, looks promising.
11. At July 12, 2008 2:28 PM, barry shir wrote:
Ironically the 32bit version of vista is clearly designed for a machine with more ram than it can physically address. Thus, it is pointless. Its like designing a one legged pair of trousers for a two legged man.
12. At July 13, 2008 1:29 PM, Peter wrote:
Can anyone tell me what the point of Vista is, from the users perspective that is? As far as I can tell (and please tell me if I am wrong):there is no new functionality, all the reports that I have seen suggest that it is no more stable, the much touted increased security is illusory etc etc. Much like Office 2007 (another Microsoft white elephant), it is just change for change sake.
13. At July 14, 2008 8:42 PM, David wrote:
There are many companies around the world who specifically forbid installation of Vista, as their specialist software is incompatible - if forced to rewrite, they will almost certainly look elsewhere for OS as well. Perhaps if we all ignore it, it will just quietly go away.....? Similarly I am aware of companies who will not use MSOffice because of the constantly changing file formats....
14. At July 15, 2008 7:05 AM, P Smith wrote:
Vista has more bugs than the Amazon hence many company's such as mine do not want to run the significant risk of downtime while Microsoft ponder a fix (often several months later in our experiences), also Vista is wholly untested from a security point of view as with all "New" operating systems, it won't be significantly secure until it has been on the market for at least 24 months and our IT department fully understand all the changes Microsoft have made.
Unfortunately Microsoft and Information are two words that don't seem to work well together when it comes to giving the end user the ability to protect themselves from potential hackers and the like.
XP still has problems even now but at least we know about the problems and can work around them, Vista however is a largely unknown quantity and this is why many companies shy away from migration.
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1. At July 3, 2008 10:07 AM, james lyon wrote: