|
|
XP Home availability extended
Author: Gareth HalfacreePublished: 4th April 2008
If you're buying an Eee PC in 2010, don't be surprised if it comes with Windows XP Home preinstalled.
Windows XP was due to reach its end-of-life stage in January this year, but Microsoft relented to pressure from customers not ready to make the switch to Vista and moved that date to the 30th of June. That was as far as the company was willing to go, however: they've spent far too much on Vista for everyone to keep buying XP.
But then along game the Asus Eee PC, and a raft of similar devices: small, lightweight machines that are underpowered when compared to their full-size brethren. With the massive success of these miniature marvels, Microsoft has been faced with a tough choice: as the devices aren't physically capable of running even the lightest version of Vista, does the company continue with its plan to kill off Windows XP and allow Linux the chance to flourish on these popular devices, or does it suck up its pride and offer a reprieve for the OS that wouldn't die?
Faced with a dilemma of that nature, there was only ever one predictable outcome. Windows XP will now be available to OEMs right the way through to June 2010, with rumours that support could extend even beyond that date. Microsoft isn't giving up on its efforts to get people to install their latest and greatest, though, with the company only extending the availability of Windows XP Home – the version of the OS which is missing vital networking components that prevent its use in a business environment. If you're hoping to join a network domain, then you're going to be stuck with Windows Vista Business.
Do you applaud Microsoft's move to extend the availability of XP at the lower-performance end of the market, or should makers of devices like the Eee PC concentrate on getting their specifications up to a level capable of running Vista? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
Related
Comments (19)
Compare over 250 mobile phones &
52,000 deals!
Compare over 100 broadband & mobile broadband deals online!
- Site Links:
- About
- Email Editor
- Newsletter
- Privacy
- RSS
- Score Guide
- Our Other Websites:
- Auto Express
- Channel Pro
- Computer Buyer
- Computer Shopper
- Den of Geek
All content © bit-tech.net 2000-2009
© Copyright Dennis Publishing Limited licensed by Felden
i use home and it is enough for me....
XP pro would of been an better option to extend but who would used an EE for Domains any way (nothing stoping you from puting on an copy of XP pro corp)
to xp pro with a xp pro cd I am surprised ms took it to 2010 but thats even better
Not that I think Vista is all bad, however, it does have a few cool things and revisions. Problem is to me that seems to be about it though, hardly any of the features that were supposed to make Vista awesome were stripped out in various stages, like WinFS.
I think the only reason we even have SP3 coming is because of Vista's poor market performance and not so much the UMPC/Ultra mobiles, and they know this.
most business use pro for domain among other things, n theyr the one thats harder to migrate; compared to home users.
If you want the network support find a cd code for w2k. If I were to have an Eeepc, thats what I would put on it. (I could right? and have it work?)
w2k is a VERY lean and great os. My moms computer is a PII 233 with 384mb of ram and it screams right along, runs firefox, Office XP, and.. StarCraft! The only lag time with it is asking it to load a program like Office, but once its running its fine.
The Eee right out of the box has a 600mhz processor and 512mb of ram, I can see it running w2k and all you could need just fine.
The amount of times I have ended up using an XP system on the bottom end of the hardware requirements and thought, it may as well have 2k on it, would function exactly the same but only faster.
They should make (there maybe already, I haven't actually looked into it) a build of Vista which is stripped down to run on "last gen" hardware such as the eee, and many peoples older desktops. Right now the only option is to use an older version of windows (XP or 2k) or Linux which has it all covered but isn't such an easy switch. It might be partially in MS interest to cater for people who wont upgrade Windows because it requires a hardware upgrade for un-required functionality. But then I guess Microsoft have a shady deal with Intel et al to force people off older hardware.
Edit:
Seems I was beaten to the point, I guess some people understand that some of it isn't important.
My dad wont upgrade because he knows that he doesn't require the aero thing, any DX10, media integration etc.
Work wont upgrade because it wont make office run faster.
I wont upgrade because DX9 is fine by me and I run XP as close to 2K style anyway.
I've been using XP since I started really getting into computers. My first pc was a Win98, then I had a WinME, Win2K and finally WinXP. Win98 is 10 years old now, WinME was totally rubbish and Win2K took about 15 minutes to boot after SP3. Windows XP has been the most stable, usable Windows ever IMHO. I know my way around it, I know how it works, I know how to solve most problems. When it comes to Vista, I am totally lost, as I don't recognise any of it from XP. If it ain't broke, don't fix it guys!
So untill Windows ME... sorry, I meant Vista :p is replaced I won't be using it on my personal computer.
_C
However... as an IT buff I have customised VISTA to give me the best possible experience. Unfortunately for microsoft that means I have turned off SuperFetch, ReadyBoost, Indexing, UserAccessControl, and a whole bucket load of other minor services.
Why did I do this ?
Because my hard drive would be constantly accessing 100% of the time if I didnt, and my memory would be full of stuff VISTA thought I would load next... but probably wouldnt load.
Now that sucks.
But now its optimised... it works well... just like my old XP did. Waste of money upgrade to be honest, but as a Gamer, I wanted DX10. Plus an OEM copy of VISTA home premium was cheaper than an OEM copy of XP PRO when I built my new machine.