Low-cost Laptops to Prolong Life of Windows XP
March 30, 2008 at 04:02:00 PM, by Sourabh Kalantri
Is June 2008 really the official end for Windows XP?
Not quite. It's obvious Microsoft wants a bulk of PC users to adopt the latest and greatest version of Windows (Vista). We can understand why they would like to do that. After all, XP is 7-years old now and it's time for customers to move on to something new (which as good support in future).
Microsoft has remained firm on their June 2008 deadline for Windows XP. After that, manufacturers would no longer be allowed to bundle genuine Windows XP on their systems. But the growing popularity of low-cost laptops like ASUS Eee PC and others similar sub-notebooks is surely making Microsoft re-think over their decision.
Due to the nature of Windows XP, it's more suitable (read: afforadable & manageable) on products like Eee PC, Classmate PC, Cloudbook and likes. Microsoft has spent a lot of time, effort and money to ensure affordable sub-notebooks like Eee PC adopt Windows XP officially. We'll soon have Windows XP pre-loaded Eee PCs available in the U.S. around the $400 price range.
This brings us back to the question will Microsoft extend the deadline for WIndows XP once again? The popularity of these low-cost laptops is increasing as every day passes by. Leading hardware manufacturers like HP, Acer, ECS and MSI are also releasing products for this segment following ASUS, Everex and Intel. As Linux is free and very easy to modify, the urge to offer free OS on low-cost laptops is very high on the part of system manufacturers. If Microsoft decides to pull the plug on Windows XP, there would be a big void for their presence in this market. The Linux marketshare will continue to increase exponentially leaps and bounds.
It'd require a lot of effort on Microsoft's end to replace XP with resource-hungry Vista on low-cost laptops. As a result, they've shown interest in providing crippled Starter Edition of Windows XP for the next couple of years, especially for emerging markets. Sorry MS, that just doesn't cut it. You'll have to do better than that for a market that has so much potential in future. Here's hoping that Microsoft remains reasonable and sanity prevails for XP to live longer via official channels.
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