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Loading ...2,125 Canadians want to save Windows XP
Microsoft Corp. has stopped selling Windows XP through retailers and is strongly encouraging users to upgrade to Vista, touting the new operating system as more secure with a better interface.
But more than 2,000 users beg to differ.
Before we removed it from this blog site, 2,125 people signed our Save XP petition, which asked Microsoft Corp. to continue offering Windows XP beyond the June 30 end of sale date. At ComputerWorld Canada, we launched our Save XP campaign last February.
Though the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant has stopped selling XP in retail stores, XP Professional is available to some users as a downgrade option with the purchase of Vista Business or Vista Ultimate.
PC manufacturers offering the downgrade option include Dell, HP, Lenovo, NEC and Sony. Businesses will also qualify for download rights if they are part of a Microsoft Volume Licensing Program.
Companies have complained to ComputerWorld Canada that upgrading to Vista is too expensive and some applications will not run on XP.
Infoworld magazine collected 210,562 on a similar petition.
One Canadian user who signed ComputerWorld Canada’s petition was Art Richmond, director of information systems for Mosaid Technologies Inc., an Ottawa-based company that designs semiconductors for component manufacturers.
“On the several occasions that we tested Vista, we found that it performed poorly in comparison to XP and that it was incompatible with much of our existing hardware and software,” Richmond wrote in an e-mail to ComputerWorld Canada. “XP on the other hand is working well as the core of our PC environment and I don’t see any need to replace it.”
Of the 50,000 enterprise users surveyed by Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research Inc., 87.1 per cent were still running Windows XP at the end of June, compared to 8.8 per cent for Vista. According to author Thomas Mendel, that implies that the majority of PCs upgraded to Vista were those running older versions of Windows, such as Windows 2000 or 98.
Mendel described Vista as the “new Coke” of software, in reference to Coca-Cola’s decision in 1985 to change the formula of its soda pop. The same year, the beverage maker scrapped New Coke and resumed sales of its old drink under the Coca-Cola Classic brand.
Microsoft is encouraging companies to upgrade to Vista through the Windows Vista Small Business Assurance, which is available to businesses with fewer than 50 employees or 25 PCs. It also said it will provides free telephone support through the end of October to companies that buy new PCs with Vista Business or Vista Ultimate between now and Sept. 30.
But this does not help users like Richmond.
“The plain truth is that nobody is moving over to Vista willingly and so Microsoft is trying to jam a failed product down our throats by killing a product that works well for us,” he wrote.
With files from Eric Lai and Gregg Keizer
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August 4th, 2008 at 11:14 am
I wanted to save XP too, until I tried a Mac for the first time after giving Vista a fair chance.