What Does It Take to Get a PC With XP?
I won't waste time rehashing the argument over whether Windows Vista is any good. The fact remains that lots of people prefer Windows XP, and they'll go to great lengths to get it.
The problem: Windows XP "officially" went off the market on June 30, 2008, and computer vendors aren't supposed to sell new machines configured with any version of Windows except Vista.
Fortunately for XP enthusiasts and Vista vetoers, the PC marketplace still has a loophole or two in it. In response to pressure from customers, Microsoft has made some concessions for people who really want XP, offering a lifeline for users willing and able to wade through the company's convoluted downgrading program. The upshot is that virtually every copy of Vista Business or Vista Ultimate Edition is sold with a license for XP, which a computer manufacturer can exercise to install XP Professional on any Vista Business or Vista Ultimate PC.
But just because a manufacturer can install XP doesn't mean that it will. And just because its official policy permits it to sell XP machines doesn't mean that its employees understand that policy.
To find out how difficult it is to get a new XP machine these days, I asked the nine largest PC vendors in the United States--Dell, HP, Gateway, Toshiba, Acer, Fujitsu, Lenovo, Sony, and Asus--about the specifics of their downgrade policies. Then, to see how closely the official story synced up with the reality in the marketplace, I called sales representatives for each company and asked them whether I could purchase a new laptop equipped with XP from them.
The verdict? Downgrade policies are all over the map, and more than a few rank-and-file sales reps have a sketchy understanding of those policies. Some notebook PC sellers make getting XP preinstalled on a new laptop a snap; others don't offer it under any circumstance. As a rule of thumb, your odds of finding a machine with XP and a sales rep who knows how to configure a machine with that OS are far greater if you call the business sales line instead of the consumer sales line. (Be prepared to fib and say you're planning to buy 25 computers during the next 12 months.) Getting XP via online purchase can be tricky, too.
Here's how each manufacturer's formal policy--and informal reality--shakes out.
Dell
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Hi, I just thought I would
Hi,I just thought I would comment that just because people will go to any lengths to obtain XP over Vista does not prove that Vista is not better than XP. People are lazy, they just want to type, print, surf and email with the least effort possible. Learning to use a new operating system is of no interest to the majority of PC users. The deluge of Mac users that go on line and publically rubbish Microsoft products any way they can doesn't help. There is no more of a public outcry about Vista than there was when XP was first released. Unlike with XP, Microsoft have quickly solved nearly all the issues of the first release of Vista. 18 months after first release I have an operating systems that do everything I ask of them, are 99.9% stable and work with almost every PC product on the market.
The only issue I have with Microsoft would be the complete disaster they made of managing the product development. The product should have been at least 3 years further advanced that it is. Having said that they did eventually succeed in releasing a product that one day people will agree is a success. You don't agree with me; well just wait until Windows 7 is released, everyone will be saying how crap it is and how everyone is downgrading to Vista.
Gateway may not offer XP on
Gateway may not offer XP on their consumer line but MPC(old Gateway business line) does offer it on just about
any of their business configurations. No fee, pre-installed
and you get the CD. They'll continue this until sometime
mid 2009.