Microsoft offers free Vista-to-XP downgrade help

[zatoicchi]

Microsoft said Monday it would offer free technical support to small businesses that buy new PCs with Windows Vista in the next three months, its latest attempt to convince users that moving to Vista is a good idea.
Free IT resource

And if those efforts are for naught, Microsoft will help those users downgrade from Vista to Windows XP, the same maneuver several large computer makers, including Dell and Hewlett-Packard, have used in recent months to continue offering the older operating system to buyers.

The offer, dubbed Windows Vista Small Business Assurance, is available to businesses with fewer than 50 employees or 25 PCs, and it provides free telephone support through the end of October to companies that buy new PCs with Vista Business or Vista Ultimate between now and Sept. 30, according to details posted on the Microsoft Web site.

Only businesses buying new hardware can take advantage of the free support; companies upgrading existing computers from, say, Windows XP, don't qualify.

Microsoft has set up a toll-free number that will be manned weekdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. PDT. Typically, Microsoft shunts users to computer manufacturers for operating system support.

Microsoft_offers_free_Vista_to_XP_downgrade

[Aurion]

I guess whatever they do,they wont convince but dummies to use Vista !! Im sure this is one of their -hope to fail- trials to pull out their stored stocks to the Big Market by selling those versions to Small Firms/Institutions which might for a reason dont care about any OS installed on PCs,they just want a OS to wrap up their daily transactions

[anon]

ok this made my day seems that even MS recognizes how bad vista was that they want to provide a smooth "de-transition" to XP to make up for that

[Aurion]

....seems that even MS recognizes how bad vista was that they want to provide a smooth "de-transition" to XP to make up for that

LOL yeah they noticed about the failure since Day 1 Vista got released but u know large firms like MS just want to cover losses by reselling bad products to dummies

[shoulder]

Well, it looks like I'm the only Vista User at this board.

But if I'm honest, I only use my VM XP because it's running faster in the VM than my Vista local.

[anon]

Well, it looks like I'm the only Vista User at this board.

don't think so a lot of people say windows sucks but guess what OS they have installed in their PC

But if I'm honest, I only use my WM XP because it's running faster in the WM than my Vista local.

weird, isn't it? and you spend more time in something virtual than in what's real for your comp

[Aurion]

Well,win Vista is way slow in terms of high ram usage regarding lots of running services/appz it just got released since PC users got bored of the normal XP Themes (which let me be honest,sux) & main OS frame

[anon]

it just got released since PC users got bored of the normal XP Themes (which let me be honest,sux) & main OS frame

and app compatibility... come on, in xp most programs just work but in vista you may have to spend a whole day trying to make a software work just to know that it can't or that you have to wait for a vista-compatible version of it! that adds a lot of fun to the user's experience

[shoulder]

and app compatibility... come on, in xp most programs just work but in vista you may have to spend a whole day trying to make a software work

I have to say something to that point.
In general you're of course right.
But Vista's 64-Bit Support is a lot better than that of XP, especially the driver software.
That is a point i really like at Vista.

[anon]

In general you're of course right.
But Vista's 64-Bit Support is a lot better than that of XP, especially the driver software.

well of course vista has also advantages, i was making just a bit of a joke

(and drivers work well if you can find working ones! )

[shoulder]

(and drivers work well if you can find working ones! )

In my opinion it's a lot easier to find 64-Bit drivers for Vista than for XP.
That's one of the (unfortunately) few advantages of Vista.

[anon]

In my opinion it's a lot easier to find 64-Bit drivers for Vista than for XP.

yes, manufacturers always focus on what's new. try to find drivers for windows 98 (which a lot of people still use) or NT4 for example... sometimes even all it'd take for them to release say a driver for XP is changing a few lines of code from the Win2000 one. like back when xp was just released people had to resort to using drivers designed for older NT systems -changing the INFs- which would result in weird stuff or bluescreens

[Aurion]

@shoulder: you may seem right @ the support part,but you back when Vista first released,for example there were not any games available to run smoothly or to support Vista & users waited for nearly 6 months till Vista games got released,thats a point !! about the driver packs,yeah for sure every OS has its built drivers to make it work properly,on the other hand,some vista supported games still have many severe bugs/problems,that would be solved way easier in WinXP !!

@anon: used to play an online game called "SilkRoad Online" which was way fun as a normal online game,anyway,there was a Bot program called Tbot,which has lots of comptability issues on Vista where users pulled their heads up to solve those bugs just to run the cracked bot along with the game smoothly !!

Want to add another review (IMO) Vista is a Ram Hog,I mean take a look @ users with low resources PC who just want to have the funny look of Vista but cant run such an OS just because their Ram cant handle it !! as being a decent looking OS,it consumed lots of ram while running many services/applications (especially Java based Platforms)

[shoulder]

There you're right Reppy.
Here's a screen of my current CPU and RAM usage.
(You have to subtract 512MB, because that is reserved for my VM XP and is added to the usage as soon as VMware starts.)

[anon]

@ shoulder: now that's big CPU and RAM usage

@ reppy: you aren't supposed to bot! my guess is that we should all stay with XP until that "MiniWin" and a gui for it is out.(when it comes to resource usage)