Microsoft Releases Windows 7 Downgrade Plans
It is not very often that you decide that you would want an older version of anything especially when it doesn’t cost any less, but Microsoft seem to be anticipating this with the announcement that if you buy a PC with Windows 7 pre-installed you will be able to downgrade to previous versions.
Obviously this doesn’t install a lot of confidence in Windows 7, but more than that it shows that Microsoft may be conceding that Vista wasn’t as good as they made out as you will be able to downgrade not just to Vista but to XP as well offering the older O/S an extended lifetime in the public domain.
Although downgrade rights are common in Microsoft licensing terms it is rare that they skip out generations of software – especially ones as big as operating systems. The final version of Microsoft 7 is not expected until next year which will make Windows XP 9 years old, and the enduring popularity of it over Vista is a headache that won’t go away.
This is despite the fact that as of the 14th April, free mainstream support for XP will end and it will enter the “extended support” period where the only updates and bug fixes and updates that XP will get will be security related – something that many followers of the O/S have been campaigning against.
Having said that many people will be pleased that they will have the choice of operating system when they buy PCs in the coming years, and hopefully this choice will galvanise Microsoft into making some real improvements in Windows 7 and its successors, and not fall into the same problems that they have experienced with Vista.
Via – BBC
Related Pages:
- Windows 7 Review – Part 4: Performance On Less Powerful Hardware
- Windows 7 Review – Part 3: Security
- Windows 7 Cheap Price Deals! (UK)
- Windows 7 Officially Named…Windows 7
- Windows 7 Review – Introduction
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Comments: 109
12:01 am 11th April, 2009
This has nothing to do with Microsoft’s confidence in Windows 7. The same downgrade was offered when Vista was introduced, because XP has become the bench-mark for reliability and compatibility, especially for large corporations running legacy software.
Oh, and exactly what ARE the “problems” with Vista? Name just one.
Comments: 109
2:11 am 12th April, 2009
Guess not then.
While I’m tearing this FUD apart, I might as well add..
1) You don’t “Install” confidence in Windows 7, you instill it. If you installed it, you’d receive it automatically via Windows Update.
2) I’ve never heard of “Microsoft 7”, but I’m sure it’s made by the same people who made this “Windows 97”, which people keep telling me they have.
3) “Mainstream” support for Windows XP will not end on 14/04/09. Sorry there isn’t a joke with that one, but there’s nothing funny about bulls*it.
Comments: 109
12:08 pm 26th April, 2009
Afterthought:
Take a look at the RC build of Windows 7 and you will find “Virtual XP”. That’s right, XP comes free with Windows 7 to run all your old, shitty apps in a little window.
You know, some people won’t be happy until you can play Dune in virtual-DOS mode..