Gartner has slammed Microsoft's plans to let PC manufacturers sell machines running Windows XP for six months after Windows 7 is released on October 22.
The company plans to cut off OEMs' XP downgrade rights, which only apply to Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate PCs, six months after Windows 7 debuts, limiting computer makers' moves after that to offering Vista-powered PCs.
"Microsoft has never had this sort of limited time for downgrades, and we think it's going to be a real mess," said Michael Silver, an analyst with Gartner.
The set-up is similar to the one used for Vista, which could be downgraded to XP Professional only from Vista Business and Vista Ultimate. (Vista Business is the closest edition to the upcoming Windows 7 Professional in its feature set.)
Silver outlined the Catch 22 as he sees it. "For an organisation that's trying to skip Vista, that means they really need to buy new PCs that they need to run on XP, and want to upgrade later to Windows 7, by April 21, 2010," he said.
"[But] since a lot of organisations won't be ready for Windows 7 until later in 2010 or even early 2011, any PCs they buy from April 22, 2010 on, and until they are ready to deploy Windows 7, would need an upgrade license or Software Assurance (SA) to allow them to run Windows XP temporarily, and upgrade to Windows 7 later on."
Corporations that subscribe to SA - Microsoft's upgrade guarantee program - or purchase Windows through volume licensing plans have downgrade rights from any edition, including Windows 7, to any previous version going as far back as Windows 95.
Silver's scenario means that companies who want to later upgrade new PCs to Windows 7, but want to run XP for the moment - most likely, to keep them in sync with the rest of the firm - will have to buy those machines before the end of April 2010, or purchase SA, or fork over money for an upgrade license from XP to Windows 7 later.
Lacking an SA plan, companies that buy PCs after the 2010 downgrade cut-off would have to make do with Vista or move all the way to Windows 7 if they wanted to avoid a multiple license hit. Neither operating system would be of help if the firm was still standardised on XP.
The alternative to SA: Buy the new PC with Windows 7, then wipe the drive and install a full licensed copy of XP. Later, when that machine is ready to be upgraded to Windows 7, the user would have to buy another license, this time an upgrade to Windows 7 from XP.
Silver saw other problems looming because of the unusual cut-off. "Most organisations are challenged when it comes to asset management anyway, so trying to figure out which PCs need SA or upgrades and which don't could be a challenge, not to mention the additional cash those upgrades will cost," he said.
Microsoft was unable to confirm the details that Silver spelled out about Windows 7's limited-time downgrades.
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See also: Cut-price Windows 7 'to cost only £60'
Comments
Miz said: Windows 7 isnt bad and much better than the mess that was released before called VistaBut the transparency is so dated now and i turned it all off along with all the fluff and effectsnow it looks like a proper work os
Tepid said: Also the above article fails to mention Windows Virtual PC with XP Mode for those companies that still need XP environment to run legacy apps
Tepid said: universally ME was crap it is a long standing known fact it was jut very poorly done With that said it was a big step in a new direction and gave us XP which unlike ME Vista is eons miles light years better at doing for 7 than ME did for XP
Luddite said: I prefer the old interface becuase it uses significantly lower resources - thats my choice - you have your view that VistaW7 is better for you but Im not so sure its right for me so allow me that point of view educated or otherwise thank you
stev said: i agree with jz every single new op sys m has come out with has been a significant improvement on the previous one i will never understand how anyone can use 7 for even a short time and then want to go back to xp i am not aiming that comment at any one person but at all of them who are holding on to what is fast becoming an antiquated operating system i feel the same way about the people who install 7 and the first thing they do is switch the taskbar back to the old or classic one everything new seems a little strange at first but keep using it for a week or two and then you might be surprised how much more you like it than the old one this was my experience it also takes time to learn what all of the new features are and to play with each of them before you can get a FULL UNDERSTANDING of what is available to you so scrap xp i also wish they would kill it from day one frankly im tired of hearing less educated people whine about it
Skidz said: Fell free to re-read but I did not make any personal insults FE but I was called a dummy and i still did not retaliate in such a way I dont feel the need to do so
Forum Editor said: Steady on people - no personal insults please or I shall be deleting your contributions
jz said: My wording is no more and no less nice than yours
Skidz said: How bout you try to keep your wording nice when replying or is that too much for you
jz said: ME was universally panned It was panned by some people but not by others Try to get a grip on reality
Skidz said: K jz but how on earth did you think ME was a step forward from Wins 98 i never heard anyone say that before ME was universally panned and with good reason and for your info i am far from a dummy
jz said: Skidz you dummy if I was working for MS I wouldnt be criticising them for allowing downgrades would I I dont work for MS and they dont pay me I pay them for their EXCELLENT software
Skidz said: Are you working for MS jz sounds like it
jz said: If I was the person making the decision at Microsoft I wouldnt allow any downgrade rights not even for one day Companies should buy the new operations system Every new operating system that Microsoft has produced has been a BIG improvement on the previous one And yes I do include ME and Vista