Tired of Vista? well then downgrade to XP

Microsoft's biggest enemy is probably itself. Getting users to upgrade to Vista hasn't received the kind of welcome many thought. Microsoft has tried hard to get users to switch using the "Wow starts Now!" campaign and even taking desperate measures such as launching a "Get the facts campaign against itself", similar to the discontinued "Gets the fact on Linux" but stating that XP's flaws.With all that failing, recently they started providing Vista Business and Ultimate users (aka users who paid BIG $$$) an option to downgrade to XP.

Many vendors including IBM, Dell, Fujitsu and HP are offering this downgrade option or providing XP as an option.

Given all this, who can blame users that have been stuck with XP for so long. Asking them to upgrade is like asking them to move from the home they grew up in, even if its supposedly a better and more secure home. At the end of the day M$ is to blame for dumbing down the majority of users to a point where they get nervous the second the desktop wallpaper isn't a blue sky with green hills!

This is probably where the Free/Open Source desktop users are better off. We have a desktop that gradually, but rapidly improves. Software packages update pretty much on a daily basis and most GNU/Linux distros have at least a bi annual (6 month) release cycle. Our users are always upgrading and looking forward to the next version. And why shouldn't they be?

We have a lot of things to be excited about such as the best 3D desktop, exciting kernel improvements with each release (check out the latest 2.6.23), best 64 bit computing support (make better use of Core2 Duo/AMD64), hottest Virtualization Technologies and support for an insane amount of hardware devices. To top it off, we have a bunch of "kick ass" FOSS licenses to tie it all together and provide the user with total control! What more can users ask for?

At the end of it all, I feel that though M$'s gamble to treat users as a bunch of noobs has paid off in getting them to buy into computers by the masses it is now faced with how to go about lifting off those XP couch potatoes and moving them to another couch. Till they figure out a way...long live EXPee!

Comments

Anonymous said…
You've got that one right, I upgraded to Vista and regretting it big time!

The new version of MS Offfice (2007) is driving me nuts as well!
They've done such drastic changes to the application that it took me more than half an hour to change the font, justify a paragraph and do the most basic formatting on Word. I really don't know what Microsoft was thinking!
My advice to anyone considering Vista, Don't do it!!!!!
5:51 PM
Dili said…
We gamers have no choice. Since they made DirectX 10 Vista exclusive anyone who wants to play a game properly in the future will have to use Vista even though it'll definitely screw up performance. Of course this also means having to buy a very expensive VGA too. :(

I think the first service pack is out early next year. And to use the DirectX 10.1 update in that you need an even newer VGA. Honestly! Office is the least of my worries :P I like Open Office better anyway.
7:23 PM
geekaholic said…
Yes Dili, I forgot to mention thats another one of those M$ tactics to get you to upgrade to Vista - not provide DX10+. I don't see any technical reason they can't do that on XP. I think I read somewhere a community effort to backport DX10 to XP though thats a cat & mouse game which wont last.

My advice for gamers is to switch to a console. I used to keep around an XP box for gaming but since I bought the PS2 thats no more. I also got a psp for on the go gaming and more recently bought a wii and having a ton of fun with it. I still play some FPS games on Linux since there are good ports for it (not to mention the FOSS FPS games). So as you can see, its possible to game without having Windows at all.
12:43 AM
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