Headlines - Distributors to keep selling Windows XP until January 31st 2009

[HEXUS]

Microsoft confirms 30th June cut-off, but just for OEMs. Can also be acquired as a ?downgrade? from Vista.

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[greenalien]

Just ordered a couple of copies of XP Pro OEM to put away in case they're needed - some of the software that our business needs to function isn't Vista compatible, so if we need a new computer to run that software, it'll have to run XP Pro. Shopping around on the 'net got me a price of £60 per copy, VAT and shipping included, so it's not much to pay for a bit of insurance! I think Microsoft are shooting themselves in the foot by withdrawing XP Pro, why don't they keep selling it - but then, that would mean listening to their customers, probably a step too far!

[Lucio]

It's a case that Microsoft can't do anything else, if they give into customer's demands to keep selling XP Pro, then the entire development process on the OS will grind to a halt.

The key issue with the entire cyle isn't that XP Pro is so perfect no one wants anything else, it's that the software developers cannot afford / be bothered to put time into developing the software to work within Vista's very different security architecture. Until you get business putting pressure on software vendors to support Vista, they'll be no incentive for them to change.

This step will get the market moving in the right direction, because despite everything, Vista has got some useful additions for business.