MS promises 18 months for XP downgrade

*sigh* I just wish they would kill it off already.

I can't see Microsoft lasting 18 months with out a service pack, but it should still give user more than the original 6, my guess would be a year.

Also, the link code in the article isn't working.

Microsoft can't survive on selling old XP Licenses... it's the only business in the world that gets criticised for pushing new products!

microsoft have done quiet well outta xp . And vista sold alot more than people give it credit for( any high end gamer is on vista already)
with windows 7 is the future i cant say. As what i tested was a redressed windows vista clone.

Originally Posted by rollo
microsoft have done quiet well outta xp . And vista sold alot more than people give it credit for( any high end gamer is on vista already)
with windows 7 is the future i cant say. As what i tested was a redressed windows vista clone.

I wouldn't call Win7 a Vista clone at all! It runs amazingly better, it's not just a cosmetic change.

I was an XP diehard, now Vista has had its SP I'm preparing to install my other hard disk, stick Vista on it, and dual boot as it's counter-productive not to know what could be the standard later on. Like Vista, I'm not getting ripped off over Win 7 and will stay one OS behind until the price becomes acceptable to me (around £80 for an upgrade which is what I paid for Retail XP). In fact, making the most of Win 7 might mean a brand new build, as happened with Vista.

So I'm not bothered, the machine that's never going up from Win XP (as it's Socket A) isn't on the internet and that's what this is really all about.

I would also like to see the end of XP. I don't think they should support any new XP downgrades or any new xp purchase.

Originally Posted by docodine

Quote:

Originally Posted by rollo
microsoft have done quiet well outta xp . And vista sold alot more than people give it credit for( any high end gamer is on vista already)
with windows 7 is the future i cant say. As what i tested was a redressed windows vista clone.

I wouldn't call Win7 a Vista clone at all! It runs amazingly better, it's not just a cosmetic change.

In fact, Windows 7 is a Vista clone ( almost ) . 99 percent of Windows 7 is actually Vista. Yes, it may run slightly better than Vista, but it is simply a tweaked Vista. Cosmetically, it is Vista. The engine is also Vista, just tweaked.

You have probably heard your fair share of Vista haters saying they will skip Vista and upgrade to Windows 7. Just tell them it's still Vista :)

despite moves by Microsoft to introduce some level of [url=http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/2009/04/27/windows-xp-embedded-into-windows-7/1compatibility[/eurl] between the two operating systems.

oops.

Originally Posted by tron
In fact, Windows 7 is a Vista clone ( almost ) . 99 percent of Windows 7 is actually Vista. Yes, it may run slightly better than Vista, but it is simply a tweaked Vista. Cosmetically, it is Vista. The engine is also Vista, just tweaked.

You have probably heard your fair share of Vista haters saying they will skip Vista and upgrade to Windows 7. Just tell them it's still Vista :)

NOOooo!
If we use your logic, XP is NT3 (1993) at 99.999%. Is it, really? No, of course not!
Win7 has the the same kernel as Vista, of course, and expect to see that for many coming up versions of Windows. What Win7 is an approved driver system, LOT'S of new feature, huge optimization work on the kernel, Aero and even the Shell (the interface not rendered by the GPU) and improvements such as better usability of multi-core CPU's (Vista made proper use to it, Win7 improves upon it).
This reminds me back in early 2007... oh yea people said: "Vista is identical to XP with a stupid interface that requires a super computer to run and it eats up all my RAM! Plus it comes with absolute nothing... just an interface, What Microsoft was thinking! I am not going to cash out all this money for a new UI, I am sticking with XP". Such comment style is NOT OLD... You can easily find them just going back a few pages in the proper forum section.
Do a a research on the web on what is new in Win7, and you should find a LOT of stuff, more than Vista in facts.. as the goal of Vista was a new kernel, which you have no idea how hyper complex, time consuming (remember when it was supposed to be out in 2003?), and from there you need to add everything that goes on top. Oh and also you have bugs fixes. If anyone wonders, it seams that Win7 has the view folder style memorization bug fixed, among many other things.

Originally Posted by GoodBytes

Quote:

Originally Posted by tron
In fact, Windows 7 is a Vista clone ( almost ) . 99 percent of Windows 7 is actually Vista. Yes, it may run slightly better than Vista, but it is simply a tweaked Vista. Cosmetically, it is Vista. The engine is also Vista, just tweaked.

You have probably heard your fair share of Vista haters saying they will skip Vista and upgrade to Windows 7. Just tell them it's still Vista :)

NOOooo!
If we use your logic, XP is NT3 (1993) at 99.999%. Is it, really? No, of course not!
Win7 has the the same kernel as Vista, of course, and expect to see that for many coming up versions of Windows. What Win7 is an approved driver system, LOT'S of new feature, huge optimization work on the kernel, Aero and even the Shell (the interface not rendered by the GPU) and improvements such as better usability of multi-core CPU's (Vista made proper use to it, Win7 improves upon it).
This reminds me back in early 2007... oh yea people said: "Vista is identical to XP with a stupid interface that requires a super computer to run and it eats up all my RAM! Plus it comes with absolute nothing... just an interface, What Microsoft was thinking! I am not going to cash out all this money for a new UI, I am sticking with XP". Such comment style is NOT OLD... You can easily find them just going back a few pages in the proper forum section.
Do a a research on the web on what is new in Win7, and you should find a LOT of stuff, more than Vista in facts.. as the goal of Vista was a new kernel, which you have no idea how hyper complex, time consuming (remember when it was supposed to be out in 2003?), and from there you need to add everything that goes on top. Oh and also you have bugs fixes. If anyone wonders, it seams that Win7 has the view folder style memorization bug fixed, among many other things.

True. But out of XP and Windows 7, Windows Vista is relatively almost identical to W7. I am aware of the list of improvements in W7. I use both operating systems.

I am loving Win7 SOOO MUCH I really dont see people downgrading, well maybe only the dumb/stupid, ignorant, and the ones really afraid of change but anyone with very basic computer skills will be able to use Win7, I mean MS has made it soooo easy to use, even setting up media sharing is ridiculously easy to do. As far as programs go, I havent come across a program that doesnt work on Win7 and anything that gave me any sort of trouble I Just set the compatibility to XP Sp2 and it would work perfectly fine.

I put Win7 RC on my mother computer, where she is what would be considered a computer illiterate because she hated XP (and Vista could not run on here system). And she loves it. No problem using the new taskbar, no problem using the start menu. I saw here change the desktop wallpaper (which is a first for here) all by her self. I asked how she did it and she answer something like: "I don't know, I open the start menu and type 'wallpaper' and got to the place to change it."

The same affect happen where she got Office 2007 on her computer, before she used to ask me every time she wanted to put text in bold or some small stuff like that, but for some reason, since she got this new Office, no more question. I even saw here insert tabled. Crazy stuff. When I taught it would (Win7 and Office 2007) make a big mess and she'll be totally lost, actually ended up being the complete contrary.

do not think i have had an BSOD yet on windows 7

Originally Posted by leexgx
do not think i have had an BSOD yet on windows 7

same for me as well, actually I did have a BSOD but that was due to bad memory not the OS

I cant wait for the retail release of W7, i used the offical beta version for a little bit, but the machine it was on was my work machine and i couldn't afford a beta bug screwing things up for me so i have continued with XP.

There are some really nice features in W7 and as soon as service packs start arriving i shall be alot happier to upgrade.

Yes XP is bottlenecking the potential of my hardware, lack of DX10 and above, and memory limited to 3.25GB and uneffiecent use of my quad core, but there little things that haven't bothered me what so ever.


I just remembered, when i tried W& beta i only had one desktop setup, i now have a 2nd machine next to me setup as a render box... drop the system clock back to 2005 and install the beta i got and all is fine. I seam to remember a time limit on the beta.

Originally Posted by GoodBytes
NOOooo!
If we use your logic, XP is NT3 (1993) at 99.999%. Is it, really? No, of course not!
Win7 has the the same kernel as Vista, of course, and expect to see that for many coming up versions of Windows. What Win7 is an approved driver system, LOT'S of new feature, huge optimization work on the kernel, Aero and even the Shell (the interface not rendered by the GPU) and improvements such as better usability of multi-core CPU's (Vista made proper use to it, Win7 improves upon it).
This reminds me back in early 2007... oh yea people said: "Vista is identical to XP with a stupid interface that requires a super computer to run and it eats up all my RAM! Plus it comes with absolute nothing... just an interface, What Microsoft was thinking! I am not going to cash out all this money for a new UI, I am sticking with XP". Such comment style is NOT OLD... You can easily find them just going back a few pages in the proper forum section.
Do a a research on the web on what is new in Win7, and you should find a LOT of stuff, more than Vista in facts.. as the goal of Vista was a new kernel, which you have no idea how hyper complex, time consuming (remember when it was supposed to be out in 2003?), and from there you need to add everything that goes on top. Oh and also you have bugs fixes. If anyone wonders, it seams that Win7 has the view folder style memorization bug fixed, among many other things.

I used to work at the irs and they used to run dos lol thousands of computers- they switched to NT running apps in dos around 2000 and there were times the network went down.. the admins said before NT they never had any problems :o

I know off topic but since you brought up NT :D think the thing with win7 is.. let's say I upgrade all of my laptops to run the rc- next year I'm not going to have any keys and I'll either have to revert back (pain in the ass) or buy keys.. alot of people aren't thinking ahead.. installing win 7 now means you intend on buying it next year (of course I'm excluding the pirate option)

Originally Posted by thehippoz
I used to work at the irs and they used to run dos lol thousands of computers- they switched to NT running apps in dos around 2000 and there were times the network went down.. the admins said before NT they never had any problems :o

I know off topic but since you brought up NT :D think the thing with win7 is.. let's say I upgrade all of my laptops to run the rc- next year I'm not going to have any keys and I'll either have to revert back (pain in the ass) or buy keys.. alot of people aren't thinking ahead.. installing win 7 now means you intend on buying it next year (of course I'm excluding the pirate option)

Actually, either way you need to re-install the OS. Sure, I won't be surprised if hacks exists to do a Windows 7 upgrade on the RC version, but then you could potentially carry RC bugs to the new one, or break things. So that would be idiotic.
If you go to the store and buy Win7, that means the OS said to you "despite my RC bugs you like it sooooo much that you went and buy it even before trying out the trial version of the official release to see if these bug are fixed". If you wait to ensure the bugs that annoyed you are fixed and then buy Win7, well it convince you it's a good OS. If you stay with your current OS then simple the newer OS did not satisfy you.

Also, if you have Vista Buisness or Ultimate you can create an image of your system (see Complete PC backup in the Control Panel). So reverting back only requires to backup your data (if you keep everything in the same partition as the OS).

The case of the IRS is that they did not do their research correctly. If they had, then the network problem would not exists as they would have gotten an OS which doesn't have such problem, like newer ones. The thing is that unlike other countries, the IRS is a company. It "can" go bankrupt. And like any cheap ass buisness... maximize profit to the hyper extremes. I won't be surprise if they never changed a burnout light bulb, or clean that coffee stain on a that table since 3 years. But that is a different topic. :)

hehe well it's all taxpayers money.. they used to have these plays every friday, hillarious.. based around gilligans island- if you volunteered to be one of the actors you got some hours off work- but the skit always revolved around production and accuracy.. if you ever wanted to see a asian gilligan, there you go =]

the apps written were proprietary, written in house by the bucktooths and when I got there they were already running NT with those same apps in dos :D I got to see many peoples taxes when I was there but I'm not supposed to talk about them (by law)

but theoretically if I did see a single 24 year olds tax return, an engineer from intel brought home over a million net salary in 2001, I would have flipped! and if that same guy filed it on a 1040ez I would have said no f'ing way.. if only that happened :D

and they aren't cheap with the taxpayer dollar.. if you needed something money was no object- it's a pretty tight ship they run there.. I never even got to see all of the building it was so big

with win 7.. I see your point just reinstall it- it's just if you already have a xp key I don't really see it as an upgrade on a laptop (non-gaming rig).. now vista 64 ultimate on my gaming rig and that will probably go to win 7 depending on what happens next year- planning a linux/win7 dual boot soon on another rig- I'm glad they are keeping xp support around for all the xp keys out there myself

I think that Microsoft pushed XP support for marketing and image reason. Since end of XP, before Vista, Microsoft REALLY wanted to change their image from a cruel buisness, to a more responsible, respectful and listening company. I mean the speculation of Microsoft forcing people to Win98 by paying companies, true or not, really hit hard on Microsoft image.

I mean lets look back to Opera vs Microsoft for IE. You can feel that Microsoft had no choice in accepting defeat. If Microsoft won the case, Microsoft would be looked as "bad" in Europe, potentially losing sells to Linux and Apple as no one wants to support evil businesses except the lead of extraordinary evil people. Accepting defeat, made Opera look bad, but they know that won't affect Opera too much on the long term, but on the short term it's a potential hard hit. That is why Opera was not happy at the end. Anyway, Microsoft will tries to make everyone happy. But I am sure they know that if it's not Win7 that will make you change, it would be the huge cost of replacing the system and the long hours IT would have to try to make new tech work on a OS that don't like anything new. Also, it's not to annoy netbooks users that paid extra on their system for XP.

Microsoft knows that their "XP support" is not real. I'll be REALLY surprised if they release bug fix or fix small security holes on that OS. They just say that to make everyone happy....

Well that is my theory.

Honestly, Microsoft has kept extending its overly gracious XP downgrade scheme for quite a bit. They are basically giving away a free 130-280 dollar license (Go try to buy XP Pro from a store, even OEM it costs quite a bit). They want to phase out XP. They gain almost nothing by continuing to support an aging platform that does not take advantage of a lot of the newer technological innovations that have come out in the meantime. Yet, as an act of good faith to the business community, who often runs legacy software to do their business, they have thrown them a bone. Then they extend this to a larger one, and yet they are insulted and ostracized for offering one in the first place, let alone giving out a bigger one. I honestly can't understand the mentality.
Then there is the fallacy that Windows 7 is just a dressed up Windows Vista (which was just a dressed up XP, which was a dressed up 2000, which was a dressed up NT, ad nauseum). Go through the whitepapers. Read the TechNet notes and developer discussions on the new tech going on in there. The basis of the kernel is from Vista, yes. However, there are massive portions of it re-written, streamlined, slimmed down, improved. There are entire new technology streams in there, updated driver model capabilities, improved memory management, more processor support, and tighter, more granular security control abilities. Then there are iterative improvements, the much maligned Aero UI, the new taskbar system, improved and more cohesive control panel UI, and an incredibly improved set of system networking features.
People look at other OS and generally go "ooh" and "aaahh" over the new features, new UI changes and other things. They claim it is the next big thing, even when it too runs on the same base kernel as prior versions. This happens with Linux (How long have we been on the 2 series kernel, and how long were they on the 2.6 series of Linux based kernel?) yet there continue to be improvements and innovations. Even with Mac I could make the same false assumption of OS X 10.4 to 10.5, or even to 10.6 (snow leopard). It is all just OS X, they just use the same kernel, it is just gussied up with some fancy new doodad or UI. It is patently false.
I would honestly hope people would actually investigate for themselves a little further before blindly spouting the same old lines that have been seen before. Windows 7 will be an evolutionary move. It doesn't reanimate your dead dog and make you a millionaire. Yet it is full of solid improvements, and numerous innovations. I for one will be upgrading my Windows machines to it. When Snow Leopard hits, I will upgrade my Mini and my MBP. I will update by Ubuntu dev server as new versions hit (although I haven't modified my Slackware Linux based file server in ages). I look forward to the updates, and am pleased to see them coming through.

Well said!
+1

I think it's pride and laziness. IT Managers and IT in general think they know everything and that looking at a help doc, release note, techNet notes, it for idiots... they just guess what the new product is. Many businesses and school, thinks that XP is all wonderful since SP2, but no it's still bombarded with security holes and bugs, as they don't take the time to read anything more then deadlines on cheap untrustworthy/blog website which also guess everything, because it too much effort to read such document.

there's alot of places they still run windows 98.. even up at the schools- you might have a point state and federal money going to things other than an upgrade..

some places have the budget to upgrade all day (and they do).. I'm gonna get it on this weekend and see how much more productive it is than vista 64- might even run some speed tests between the two god forbid! XD I think it'll be the same though- most of the hype is coming from xp users going to win 7... mooohaavvee *cracks the whip