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April 20, 2007
Dell Brings XP Back from the Dead
In some hilariously bad news for Microsoft, Dell has announced it is bringing back Windows XP as an installation option on PCs that it sells. It is ugly news for Microsoft and its Windows Vista, driving home poor the update and acceptance is of Microsoft's latest operating system.
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Dell is offering an "option" for users to buy old technology on a few of their systems. It turns out a "Digg" like blog that Dell operates, has produced a highly suspect, possibly rigged voting system of limited economic utility. And this announcement by them is a result.
Predictably, the blogosphere has turned a routine piece of Dell PR, into yet another msft is "dead" storyline.
It would be stunning for a consumer to choose XP over Vista on a NEW machine. Stunning. I don't even think Paul would do that if somehow he were forced to give up his Mac and made to choose between XP and Vista. ;-)
I predict this story dies rather quickly, and we will never really find out how tiny the actual number of Dell customers choosing old over new, really is.
We only have a few more days before true facts Begin to reveal themselves in the msft earnings report. Until then, expect the megaphone carrying critics of all things msft to inundate the blogosphere with their highly biased guesswork.
Microsoft is not dead, it will never die. But no matter what your bias its loss of momentum is undeniable. The mature company that can reinvent itself is the exception and so far MS has only been its old self.
The Apple ads nail them and the public can see it.
Hasta la Vista
It makes sense, Dell wants to sell computers and a lot of people do not want Vista. An XP computer needs less memory, and other system resources. That makes them cheaper and easier to sell. Dell can also use older components which are cheaper to use.
I would rather buy an XP laptop for $800 than a Vista one for $1600.
I don't blame Microsoft for this. I have been using Vista for months now on my new Dell laptop and am very pleased with the OS. The problem is that too many vendors haven't been ready for Vista ... which for major companies like Adobe, HP, and the like I just find stunning. There was plenty of advance warning that Vista was coming, so there's not a great excuse.
Once software and hardware companies catch up with software updates and drivers for Vista, acceptance will take off.