Ballmer: Buy Vista, Downgrade to XP for Free
Ballmer: Buy Vista, Downgrade to XP for Free
by , 4:00 PM EDT, June 4th, 2008
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, responding to a question about the support for XP off the shelf, said that customers can buy Vista, then downgrade to XP for free. "I don't know how you can do better than getting both," Mr. Ballmer said Tuesday in Washington D.C.
According to InformationWeek on Wednesday, Mr. Ballmer's comments suggest that Microsoft doesn't see the license provision as a loophole to be exploited by disgruntled customers but, in fact, is endorsing a program to spur sales of Vista.
Despite Microsoft's claim that 140 million copies of Vista have been sold, enterprise customers have had problems with Vista's onerous hardware requirements, incompatibilities with older applications and driver issues.
According to Paul McDougall with IW, this raises the question of how many copies of Vista are actually in service because of the special licensing provision. Some PC makers, including Dell, have "pre-downgraded" the PC from Vista to XP before delivering the PC to the end user.
TMO notes that other observers are lamenting the recent preview of Windows 7 at All Things Digital as an "Osborne Effect" marketing blunder. As a result, Mr. McDougall noted that some businesses may decide to wait for Windows 7 -- whenever it becomes available.
Microsoft has another reason to keep XP around. The smashing success of Ubuntu Linux on Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPCs), most notably from Asus, took Microsoft by surprise. As a result, companies are springing up right and left to sell Ubuntu Linux on Atom-powered UMPCs, and Vista cannot compete.
Observer Comments
Why would you buy Vista just to downgrade? Why not just keep the XP you have and if you have pre-XP just BUY XP.
I cannot stand windows, used it for 12 years prior to migrating to the mac, love my decision and no regrets 
Also you don't get both.... You get 1 or the other. I'd like to see someone get both and run both licenses without microsoft complaining lol
They were in deep trouble when Ballmer became CEO...
We are migrating thousands of users at work and it is the biggest piece of crapware I have encountered. Programs, the OS, printers and other various things just stop working for no reason and cannot be explained even by M$.
Thankfully, my home life is stress free since all our computers at home use OS X.
So if I have XP installed, and I pay $219.95 to buy Vista Ultimate from Microsoft (Digital Locker Download) I will be the proud owner of software that I can then Downgrade to XP again for free.
So if I have XP installed, and I pay $219.95 to buy Vista Ultimate from Microsoft (Digital Locker Download) I will be the proud owner of software that I can then Downgrade to XP again for free.
So if I have XP installed, and I pay $219.95 to buy Vista Ultimate from Microsoft (Digital Locker Download) I will be the proud owner of software that I can then Downgrade to XP again for free.
So if I have XP installed, and I pay $219.95 to buy Vista Ultimate from Microsoft (Digital Locker Download) I will be the proud owner of software that I can then Downgrade to XP again for free.
Nope. No matter how many times I repeat it it still doesn't make sense.
What is happening at Microsoft?
I work for a large enterprise telecommunications giant in Canada that is a partner with M$. Our security division have declared Vista a major security risk and refuse to allow Vista on any of our systems.
Vista is so bad that they're even cautioning employees not to install it on their home PC's if they plan to connect from home via VPN. They've gone as far as to state they will not support or help anyone with Vista who experience issues trying to even connect.
Even worse, they're not even planning on testing or even looking towards future support or installation within the company.
If this is any indication of how Vista is being regarded by other enterprise entities then Vista is a lost cause for M$.
Thu Jun 05, 2008 8:39 am Subject: Re: Security risk
QuoteAnonymous wrote:
I work for a large enterprise telecommunications giant in Canada that is a partner with M$. Our security division have declared Vista a major security risk and refuse to allow Vista on any of our systems.
I'm curious as to why they would declare Vista a major security risk when security is one thing Vista has done better than XP. People may not like how it goes about it, but it is holding up pretty well.
I can see IE being declared a security risk before Vista would be.
Microsoft do not understand security.
Alternative explanation - Microsoft understand security but...
someone/s is/are taking back handers off the bank details hijackers, ID thieves, russian mafia etc
they simply don't care
they were told to leave it like that so the various "national security" organisations can spy on users
they got Windows from the devil when billy g sold his soul
they get a laugh out of selling "leaky boats"
they simply cannot bear the thought of 90% of the IT world saying "we told you so" when they change to the Unix type model
QuoteGuest wrote:
Ohhhh I hope Apple does a new Mac / PC commercial with this new tidbit of information.
http://movies.apple.com/movies/us/apple/getamac_ads4/prlady_480x272.mov
That the only reason Monkey Boy is making this offer is to sell Vista - because it is the only why he can move them off the shelf.
In Australia, we have a "use by" date on perishable products... Vista's use by date is NEVER... i.e. Never install it.
I refuse to install it on any of the machines in my company and will not allow it to interface with my systems... PERIOD.
You can't. When Vista Basic gave me headaches during initial setup (Freeze up's, BSOD, HP Crapware causing probs), I looked for XP drivers on the HP site to downgrade and guess what? THERE ARE NONE. Service Pack 1 STILL will not install and no solution to that problem has worked. VISTA SUX!!!
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