Buy Windows XP

The whole controversy around Microsoft ending support for Windows XP is getting a little more interesting. ComputerWorld Canada is now pushing readers to voice their concern against Microsoft. This is quite a twist where an official large publication is pushing it publicly.

As we know before, thousands of people have already signed a petition to make Microsoft keep supporting Windows XP. It is working to some degree because Microsoft has said they will review the situation and make the appropriate move. We haven't heard anything yet, but we should be seeing something soon. Stay tuned and grab that popcorn because this is going to be one heck of a ride.

Windows XP Sp3 is finally here after a long three and a half years since the last service pack. This one is supposed to contain all sorts of fixes. This will also be the last service pack according to Microsoft as they are ending support for Windows XP in June.

Some enhancements include improvd detection of black hole routers which drop packets during operation. There is also some newly integrated Network Access protection. Overall, Microsoft didn't really do much as you can tell they are trying to push people to Windows Vista, but that may be delayed with the amount of people petitioning against it.

If you are looking to buy Windows XP then you will need to hurry as the June 30th deadline is approaching. This report will detail the best places and prices at which to buy Windows XP.

Buy Windows XP Home
Amazon - $150 - 191
Buy.com - $191
eBay - $130 - 199

There is a decent amount of price disparity if you are looking to buy Windows XP Home. To get the best price you will want to shop around before you buy Windows XP.

Buy Windows XP Professional
Amazon - $130 - 269
Buy.com - $238
eBay - $129 - 276

Amazon seems to be the best candidate with the greatest range in most cases. However, it the prices will only increase as more and more people look to buy Windows XP before the deadline. If you are going to buy Windows XP it is probably a good idea to do it soon because you will want to shop around and the prices are rising.

As many of you know, Microsoft plans to end support and the sales of Windows XP licenses. The problem is that many businesses are always growing and want to purchase new software licenses for more computers. If there are already heavily based on Windows XP, then there will be a major problem. Microsoft says that you can buy Vista licenses and downgrade but only on certain circumstances.

For individuals, the best thing to do is stock up on licenses before June 30 because the remaining boxes will be quickly purchased after June 30. I can also picture eBay sellers snatching up all the remaining boxes to sell them at a huge profit. This is most likely to happen because you can't actually transfer an existing license to new computer because Microsoft does not allow it.

It seems there is a new philosophy on Windows operating systems. A business manager from Tarsus Technologies is recommending that you buy computers with Windows Vista, but keep using Windows XP. This may be a bit confusing, but it makes sense.

The important thing to consider is that Microsoft is continually making Vista better everyday till the point where it is much better to use Vista than XP. This means that if you have a Vista license already, then you don't need to buy it later. You already have a XP license sitting around somewhere so you could just use that in the meanwhile. This is quite an interesting strategy.

NEC, a computer maker, has launched a kit known as FlexLoad which will make the task of downgrading Vista to XP a quicker process for IT administrators. NEC is touting that it takes only 15 minutes for a non-techie to do a downgrade. The biggest advantage of this is that a NEC computer owner can downgrade to XP after the summer deadline.

Dell, HP, Lenovo, and now NEC, what is Microsoft doing? Can't they see that people are really not interested in Vista? Well, I'm glad that at least the manufacturers can see the light and know that people are looking for XP not Vista. There is more and more chorus that Windows XP should stay on longer, hopefully the guys at Microsoft are listening.

There are various reasons why people hate Vista. For one there is the overzealous schedule that Microsoft is trying to stick to in getting rid of Windows XP. Usually Microsoft has allowed 2 years after launching a newer version of Windows and phasing out the old version, however with Vista and XP they are allowing much less. Initially they wanted to phase out XP in 11 months after Vista was released, now they have moved the date to June 30th.

Six months after Vista was released most major retails stopped selling Windows XP loaded machines. Unfortunately Windows XP is mostly dead to most retail customers. However, for readers of this blog, you still have time until June 30th to pick up your copy. On the whole, I have to say that its pretty sad that Microsoft is killing such a great operating system, probably the first one that Microsoft made that was practically flawless.

So you are thinking what is going to happen after June 30th, the deadline that Microsoft is saying they will stop selling Windows XP licenses. Well, here are some ideas. If you want a retail license you will be allowed to buy a license online from Microsoft's site until July 1st. OEM licenses have mostly dried up ever since Spring of 2007, but if you can still order them through business licenses online through computer hardware firms.

If you have bought Vista Business or Vista Premium you have a license to downgrade the installation to Windows XP Pro. This can be carried out either via a Windows XP Pro disc or a Downgrade Install Disc provided by Microsoft. Essentially you will be using your Vista license to run Windows XP. Personally, I think it is worth it, Vista has too many issues at this point to be used as a main operating system on a main machine.

Microsoft has declared that June 30th will be the last day that it will sell Windows XP licenses. Of course, this is causing a lot of commotion on and off the net. InfoWorld has started a petition to convince Microsoft to continue selling Windows XP licenses indefinitely.

InfoWorld has already gotten 70,000 signatures from passionate Windows XP fans of all stripes. I have to say, Microsoft is not doing a very intelligent thing by moving against what many customers are saying they want. True Microsoft will lose money on Vista, but if their forced migration of everyone from XP to Vista causes people to jump ship onto Linux or MacOSX then they will have more pain.

Business Week had a recently article on the Windows Vista and XP issue again. The article was written because Windows Vista SP1 update was around the corner, which may be a significant milestone for Vista. However, it turns out that the SP1 upgrade is little more than a few bugs that the user wouldn't notice anyway.

The brings back the problem of whether corporations and individuals will switch to Windows Vista. Many users have been forced to it by buying new computers, but there are still quite a few companies and individuals who aren't switching. Windows Vista is simply too clunky and unreliable.