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| Techie website InfoWorld has announced a petition aimed at convincing Microsoft to delay the already-delayed-by-six-months planned termination of Windows XP, and they're looking for signers. You may remember that when Dell started pre-installing Vista on all their new home PCs the uproar from consumers was enough to convince the box builder to offer a choice of Vista or XP, at least on the most popular models in their range. InfoWorld is hoping to embrace and extend that success by taking on the beast itself: Microsoft. Microsoft is due to end shipment of Windows XP in both retail and OEM formats on the 30th of June, despite strong popular demand for the previous-generation OS. After this time, system builders will be given until December 31st to shift remaining stocks of Windows XP. The reason is clear: the company is extremely keen to get people shifted onto its next-gen OS, Windows Vista. InfoWorld believes that XP still has a place in the market, and I have to agree. Having used both Vista and XP on the same box, XP certainly feels nippier and has fewer surprises lurking behind shadowy corners. While an upgrade would obviously make Vista just as responsive as XP is, it's a fact that many of the bottom-end PCs sold by retailers such as Dell and HP just don't have the grunt to make Vista a viable option without adding additional memory and bumping the price away from the headline-grabbing loss-leader offers we see so often. InfoWorld's aim is laudable, but perhaps a trifle optimistic: it's attempting to get Microsoft to agree to an indefinite extension to XP's shelf-life. In the site's own words, “Not for another six months or a year but indefinitely.” As much as I'd like to see XP remain an option, especially at the budget end of the market, I think that Microsoft has too much riding on the success of Vista to allow it to happen. Still, with enough signatures anything is possible. |
