02/08/2008, 12:25pm, EST
Friday, February 8thAnalysts: Microsoft should keep XP until 2009
Microsoft should keep Windows XP on the market until at least 2009, two major research firms are suggesting. Sales of the operating system, which was launched in 2001, are currently set to end on June 30th of this year, according to InfoWorld; this in turn is actually an extension, as Microsoft originally set a deadline for December 31st, 2007. Neither date would have been enough, says Richard Jones, a VP with the Burton Group. "A good rule of thumb in any OS transition is that you have to have the original and new products available for at least two years to handle customer needs," he comments.
XP's replacement, Windows Vista, debuted only in January of last year. Jones argues that Microsoft's transition schedule has been overly aggressive, mainly as a result of having to delay the release of Vista in the first place. "Microsoft is up against a rock, with Vista coming out seven years after XP's release. But it's their fault it took seven years, not my fault," he complains, suggesting that customers should not be made to suffer for corporate timetables.
A research VP with Gartner, Michael Silver, echoes these views. "It would be wise for XP to be available until the end of 2008," he says. The real issue however is said to be the time needed for third-party applications to release for Vista, among these homegrown ones and replacements for products from defunct companies.
Though it has yet to make a decision, Microsoft says that it may be willing to extend XP sales, based on feedback from partners and the public at large. A research VP at IDC, Al Gillen, notes that past deadline extensions have included Windows 2000 and NT Workstation. He recommends against online petitions though, proposing instead that customers should harangue Microsoft through its official channels, such as its feedback website.
Filed under: industry, software
Other story tags: Microsoft, Vista, Windows
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I think customers should harangue Microsoft (and make life easier on themselves) by buying an Apple computer and running OSX.
:-)
I am speaking as someone who has not only tried Windows Vista, but bought Vista Ultimate 64-bit on a brand-new Santa Rosa 15" notebook....it is by far the most over-priced, over-hyped, over-bloated OS I've ever seen since Windows Me.
Ultimate Extras? Forget it. There's two or three...and they haven't made any new ones since the release. Total Ballmer B/S!
My fiancee finally convinced me to "switch" two weeks ago after I was fighting w/ Vista BSODs one Saturday afternoon. I'm now running a 13" white Macbook w/ 4GB of RAM and XP Pro under VMWare...
No crashes, no issues, no headaches....it just works.
Vista, your days are numbered.
Microsoft shot themselves in the foot over and over even BEFORE Vista was released. Early on, MS released lists of features for the upcoming OS.. announced them BEFORE they were proven to work. So, as the delays piled up, they were forced to take away promised features that were either overly ambitious or marketing fantasies.
Apple is smart. They only publicize new OSes like Tiger or Leopard when they're nearly done and the feature set is complete.
With Leopard it was the first time in memory when features were CUT from just before the release... resolution independence for instance.
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?spart=MA453Z%2FA
Leopard is soooo much faster than Tiger (10 times faster, if I recall correctly)! It's just incredible!
And are you sure you're talking about Windows and the drivers? For there seems to always be people who need updated drivers for their printers/scanners/etc everytime Apple comes out with a new OS, and Leopard is no different.