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PC makers find ways to extend XP’s life

Autor admin | 27.04.2008 | Category Microsoft, Windows

Facing a June 30 deadline to stop selling PCs with Windows XP, the world’s largest computer makers are getting creative.

Taking advantage of the “downgrade rights” offered as part of the Windows Vista license agreement, Hewlett-Packard and Dell both plan to offer machines loaded with XP well beyond June.

Technically, the computers will be Vista Business or Vista Ultimate machines that have been factory downgraded to XP at the customer’s request. In practice, they are more like XP machines that come with an already paid-for upgrade to Vista when and if the customer chooses to do so.

HP said it plans to continue selling the “pre-downgraded” desktops, notebooks, and workstations to its business customers until July 30, 2009. Dell is already pitching the same option on its Web site and promising the models will stick around long after it stops taking standard XP orders on June 18. Other computer makers tell CNET News.com they are still exploring what to do but also want to sell XP beyond June 30.

There are limits to the approach being taken by HP and Dell. Only the Business and Ultimate flavors of Vista come with downgrade rights, meaning consumer machines can’t be sold in a similar fashion.

While companies can offer pre-downgraded machines via their Web site, things get a little more complicated when it comes to buying a PC at retail stores. It may be possible for customers to buy such a machine, but just how this will work–and if stores will offer such an option–is not totally clear. The tricky issue is that, to stay within Microsoft’s terms, the customer has to somehow “request” the XP downgrade.

All of this prompts the real question: Why won’t Microsoft just extend the deadline? The company’s rationale that customers and computer makers aren’t demanding a longer life for XP seems to be increasingly implausible.

Kevin Kutz, a director in Microsoft’s Windows unit, said that the downgrade-rights option meets customer needs.

“While (computer makers) continue to see large numbers of customers making the transition to Windows Vista, there are some pockets–like small business–that need a little more time,” Kutz said in a statement. “And from what we’ve heard from our partners, the downgrade rights option fulfills that need.”

The pre-downgraded PC option is just the latest way that PC makers have responded to stronger-than-expected demand. After shifting largely to Vista after its January 2007 mainstream launch, Dell and others quickly began adding more XP options in response to customer requests.

For some time now, computer makers have been selling machines with an XP recovery disc as a downgrade option.

Lenovo, for example, plans to keep offering an XP recovery disc with some Vista models through January 2009, according to InformationWeek.

The latest twist is the machines, like the ones HP and Dell will sell beyond June 30, that have Vista rights but contain XP pre-installed.

As for whether a broader reprieve might yet come for XP, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has left the door open a crack.

“XP will hit an end-of-life,” Ballmer said in Belgium recently, according to Reuters. “We have announced one. If customer feedback varies, we can always wake up smarter, but right now, we have a plan for end-of-life for new XP shipments.”

CNET News.com

Is Vista prettier in pink?

Autor admin | 29.03.2008 | Category Microsoft, Windows

Sometimes, internationalizing Microsoft’s products just means translating the same, boring packaging into another language.

Every now and then, though, one of Microsoft’s subsidiaries goes out on a limb. Such is the case with a new bundle Microsoft has in Japan that combines Windows Vista Home Premium with Windows Live OneCare in one eye-popping hot pink box. (Kudos to Long Zheng for spotting this one.)

I’m not sure how much adding hot pink will add to the software’s appeal (though it has made Hello Kitty’s career), but it is interesting to see Microsoft thinking of new ways to sell its gear.

I did some more poking around on the Microsoft Japan Web site and found another marketing approach that might have more global appeal than pink packaging. On its site there, Microsoft has a cool Japanese cartoon prize fight between Windows XP and Windows Vista, really illustrating how the new OS is different than its predecessor in areas like desktop search, security, and performance.

Its U.S. marketing, by contrast, just didn’t seem to do the trick when it comes to really making a compelling case for an upgrade.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has talked about the company’s need to do better when it comes to Vista marketing, and I think the U.S. folks might want to take a page from their Japanese counterparts. In case there was ambiguity here, that page is the prizefight one. I’m not that into pink.

Maybe instead of Johnny Knoxville, what Microsoft really needs is a little more Ralph Macchio.

news.com

Windows XP may get another reprieve

Autor admin | 26.03.2008 | Category Microsoft, Windows

Although Microsoft is pushing hard to move everyone to the latest version of Windows, there are some market realities that are going to keep Windows XP around for some time–likely well beyond the current June deadline for large computer makers to stop selling the older operating system.

Microsoft has already extended the deadline once (XP was originally supposed to stop showing up on big-name PCs in January) and I would expect another extension to be announced soon.

The biggest area where XP is likely to stick around is in the nascent but growing market of low-cost, flash memory-based notebook computers, such as the Asus Eee PC. These devices are fertile ground for Linux, benefiting from its low cost and low memory requirements. Microsoft had to do some work just to get Windows XP onto the Eee PC and Vista would seem to be a non-starter.

Speaking of starters, another area where XP is likely to persist is in emerging markets. Microsoft conceded as much when it first extended the XP deadline last year. In addition to offering a few months reprieve for XP broadly, the software maker said it would offer the entry level Windows XP Starter Edition through 2010 for use on ultra low-cost PCs.

"We’re seeing great interest from our OEM partners in having Windows on these machines, such as pre-installing them with Starter edition in over 100 emerging market countries worldwide," Microsoft VP Mike Nash said in a statement in September. "That continues to be a trend we’re keeping our eye on, as even though we expect hardware costs to continue to drop, it reaffirms for us that not all customers want the same thing from their computers."

But it’s not just Starter edition that people want. To compete against Linux, Microsoft needs full Windows XP on these devices. There are more and more devices like the Eee PC cropping up and they are finding interested buyers, not just in emerging markets, but in mature markets where people are willing to trade a few features for getting a low-cost, light machine that allows full Web browsing on the go.

Publicly the company is still sticking to the revised June deadline, but Microsoft has shown a willingness to make changes in the past. My big question is whether it will extend the deadline only for certain types of computers. There are plenty of mainstream models today where XP remains an option, particularly on build-to-order machines from the likes of Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell.

News.com