Save XP Petition
Windows XP may be a 7 year old operating system but it is still widely used, and often preferred, to Windows Vista. However, Microsoft have still decided that they will cease all sales of the OS (Operating System) on June 30th and officially stop support sometime after this date.
While it is inevitable that Windows users will have to upgrade sooner or later, XP has been on the whole a user friendly, compatible OS that has remained incredibly versatile for it’s age. In my opinion, Microsoft should continue to sell Windows XP for users that prefer it, but put emphasis on selling Windows Vista and preloading most systems with it, just as it is doing at the moment.
If you agree, then sign the Save XP petition at InfoWorld!
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:14 pm
I think it’s ridiculous that they’d stop support on an operating system, especially give MS reputation. I can understand not wanting to manufacture it anymore, but support? C’mon.
February 28th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
I’m shocked to see any kind of Save Windows petition here!
That said, you’re right. Windows XP is a stable, usable operating system. It’s easy, meaning user friendly for people who don’t feel super duper comfortable using computers. It puts the focus on getting stuff done, instead of looking at slick bells and whistles. Really there’s a lot to be said for it. I can’t think of much positive to say on Vista. I mean, I’ve read how it’s supposed to do all this wonderful stuff in theory, but none of it panned out.
I wonder tho, if Microsoft stops selling XP, so what? Are they going to make CompUSA stop selling all the copies sitting there on the shelf? I bet people will still be able to buy a copy if they prefer one.
But if Microsoft stops selling it, does that mean we don’t need to license it anymore? If it’s not for sale, they should make it free.
February 29th, 2008 at 1:50 am
I bought my current laptop from a friend I used to work with, who loved buying the latest and greatest toys, then selling them off after a couple of months. It came with Vista Home Premium, and based on everything I’d heard, I expected to have to format the drive and put a different O/S on.
I was surprised at how not terrible Vista is. That’s a pretty low bar, but set mainly by what I’d heard about the software … it blew my expectations out of the water. There are things that annoy me terribly, there are a lot of once familiar things that have moved around, forcing a learning curve that shouldn’t be necessary. But on the whole, Vista is a step forward.
If Microsoft wants to strong arm their customers, though, it’ll probably hurt them. Linux and Mac have never looked so attractive. It’s ironic that running Windows made Mac hardware viable to a lot of people, but some of those will find themselves not using Windows on their Mac very often, and never buy another upgrade again…
March 4th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
quote: But if Microsoft stops selling it, does that mean we don’t need to license it anymore? If it’s not for sale, they should make it free.
Aaaa… but john you havnt read the small print, you DONT BUY microsoft OS’s you LEASE them.
So technically they havnt stopped selling it they have stopped providing new leases. :p
Dan
March 7th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
I personally am running (and loving) XP x64, and feel that it should be the “successor” of windows XP, not Vista. The only real “limitations” of windows XP, and further the only real need for a new operating system, is the memory limitations of a 32-bit operating system (4gb total system memory cap, page file limitations, etc). This is removed simply by having a 64 bit architecture.
So, we take a well established and familiar operating system, Windows XP, remove the 32 bit limitations, we have Windows XP x64. That said, almost every copy of Vista I see being sold is 32 bit!!! Vista is a resource hungry OS (read: bloatware) that has all the same limitations of its predecessor, this is not an improvement. The only real changes that it seems that were made in Vista includes native DirectX 10 support (which is limited to Vista by choice, not necessity, as they chose to make it not install in XP), something to do with video/audio rights management, and some other data or security protection stuff. Honestly, nothing they couldn’t program for, or doesn’t already exist in some form for XP.
Driver support - hardware manufacturers are trying to keep up with Microsoft for Vista drivers, and then /maybe/ someday (so they keep telling me) Vista64 drivers. Yet most of these manufacturers have at least functioning beta drivers, if not full released for XP x64. It seems the seeds are laid, and if Microsoft just gave a little more tlc to XP x64, they’d have a powerhorse OS for the next generation of computers.
All of that said, I try to be realistic, and I know this won’t happen. I will be waiting for Vista64 drivers to be solid, tested, and widely distributed before I make the upgrade. In the mean time, loving my 8gb RAM in XP x64.