Re: Microsoft extends XP downgrade rights date by six months
> Why would business customers want downgrade rights? Perhaps if you were
> administering several hundred or several thousand workstations you might
> find that it is easier to maintain your machines if they all have the same
> operating system. Or maybe you have specialized applications or custom
> software that was designed to run on Windows XP but that doesn't work so
> well on the newer Windows version, changing the older or custom
> applications may not be a feasible option at this particular time so you
> might instead exercise your downgrade rights, for business customers this
> is not something that is as stupid as some might think. As I said above,
> this is nothing new, it's been around for a while and it is aimed at
> corporate clients, most people misunderstand the purpose of the downgrade
> rights but if they so chose to exercise it it is theirs to exercise if
> they buy business versions of the operating system.
I agree with you mostly except the following:
The magnitude has never been this large though it is known that corporate
customers are, rightfully, cautious. However, corporate customers are
normally signed in with volume licenses and if one pays attentions to the
offer from brand name system providers, one will also know that it's not
just corporate customers but also a larger number of SMBs (small and medium
business) are doing so.
Apart from the "standard" costs of migrating to a new operating system,
Vista also requires a large amount of "retraining" cost including
interruption of work and user dissatisfaction, and we are still dealing with
some primitive issues (e.g. file copying, basic networking issues, etc.)
after Windows has been introduced, say, 20+ years?
On one hand, we have increased cost without reducing any of previous
standard migration costs such as some of you already mentioned, and on the
other hand, what are "tangible" benefits (key word: tangible, not
sensational or feeling safer)?
Also with today's global competitive environment, I seriously doubt any
proper trained decision maker will give it a go.
The newer version will have to deliver one critical business element
regardless of its technical hype and that is, If it cannot present
*tangible* benefits, it needs to reduce deployment/migration cost, or it
will face the same if not a worse situation.
"John John (MVP)" <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote in message
news:gcii7i$gn9$1@aioe.org...
> Frank wrote:
>
>> Plato wrote:
>>
>>> the granter of sina wrote:
>>>
>>>> Microsoft is sending some very confusing signals about Windows Vista -
>>>> the
>>>> latest of which it issued via a statement on October 3.
>>>>
>>>> The Register reported on October 2 that Microsoft was going to extend
>>>> again
>>>> the date until which PC makers would be allowed to continue to offer
>>>> Windows
>>>> users "downgrade rights," enabling them to switch from Vista to XP on
>>>> new
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I'm also a bit confused. The other Sunday I was watching NASCAR with a
>>> neighbor and was considering bringing my laptop over after signing up
>>> with their special service, which required a high end pc/laptop, so I
>>> went to Dell and looked for laptops as it was about time for me to get
>>> in shape, and they all seemed to come with Vista, but for $100 _more_
>>> you could get a _downgrade_ to XP.
>>>
>>> Too weird for me. I closed the page.
>>
>> "Downgrade" is the operative word.
>> But why would anyone pay $100 to "downgrade" anything?
>> Are there that many stupid people out there?
>
> You don't have to pay to downgrade, it's part of the Vista business
> license as it was part of the XP Professional license as it was part of
> the Windows 2000 Professional license as it is and was part of different
> Server versions. No one says you have to pay an OEM to do this for you
> but it is up to you to supply the previous version installation media and
> to make sure that drivers for the older version are available for the new
> hardware, so sometimes paying the OEM may be easier than doing it yourself
> or it may give the buyer a reassurance that the hardware will work with
> the older operating system and that it will be guaranteed and supported by
> the OEM.
>
> Why would business customers want downgrade rights? Perhaps if you were
> administering several hundred or several thousand workstations you might
> find that it is easier to maintain your machines if they all have the same
> operating system. Or maybe you have specialized applications or custom
> software that was designed to run on Windows XP but that doesn't work so
> well on the newer Windows version, changing the older or custom
> applications may not be a feasible option at this particular time so you
> might instead exercise your downgrade rights, for business customers this
> is not something that is as stupid as some might think. As I said above,
> this is nothing new, it's been around for a while and it is aimed at
> corporate clients, most people misunderstand the purpose of the downgrade
> rights but if they so chose to exercise it it is theirs to exercise if
> they buy business versions of the operating system.
>
> John
>