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FBI's Net surveillance proposal raises privacy, legal concerns
Posted by: Tweaker
Date added: 09:04, 28th April 2008 GMT
Source: C/Net News
Facing a June 30 deadline to stop selling PCs with Windows XP, the world's largest computer makers are getting creative.
Taking advantage of the "downgrade rights" offered as part of the Windows Vista license agreement, Hewlett-Packard and Dell both plan to offer machines loaded with XP well beyond June.
Technically, the computers will be Vista Business or Vista Ultimate machines that have been factory downgraded to XP at the customer's request. In practice, they are more like XP machines that come with an already paid-for upgrade to Vista when and if the customer chooses to do so.
HP said it plans to continue selling the "pre-downgraded" desktops, notebooks, and workstations to its business customers until July 30, 2009. Dell is already pitching the same option on its Web site and promising the models will stick around long after it stops taking standard XP orders on June 18. Other computer makers tell CNET News.com they are still exploring what to do but also want to sell XP beyond June 30.
There are limits to the approach being taken by HP and Dell. Only the Business and Ultimate flavors of Vista come with downgrade rights, meaning consumer machines can't be sold in a similar fashion.
While companies can offer pre-downgraded machines via their Web site, things get a little more complicated when it comes to buying a PC at retail stores. It may be possible for customers to buy such a machine, but just how this will work--and if stores will offer such an option--is not totally clear. The tricky issue is that, to stay within Microsoft's terms, the customer has to somehow "request" the XP downgrade.
All of this prompts the real question: Why won't Microsoft just extend the deadline? The company's rationale that customers and computer makers aren't demanding a longer life for XP seems to be increasingly implausible.
Kevin Kutz, a director in Microsoft's Windows unit, said that the downgrade-rights option meets customer needs.
Full Story here.
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