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The bad news just keeps on coming for Windows Vista . First there was the "Vista-Capable" class action lawsuit. Then IT advisory firm Gartner claimed Windows may be collapsing under its own weight.
Now Business Week is reporting that a number of large businesses are considering closing the door to Vista, opting instead to stick with XP until the release of Windows 7, due sometime before 2012.
General Motors is the latest large company to publicly consider skipping Vista, citing hardware demands and software vendors who still haven't guaranteed complete compatibility with the OS. Alaska Airlines and Transco Railway Products are two other companies likely to bypass Vista, according to Business Week.
Vista is doing better in the consumer market, of course, but that's largely because the OS is bundled with the vast majority of computers sold in retail outlets.
According to Business Week, 65% of Windows copies sold in the third quarter of last year were Vista, 35% were XP. Microsoft wanted the Vista number to be closer to 80%, but it doesn't look like that will be happening anytime soon.
The success of ASUS's EEE PC has kick-started a whole new market for ultra-portable laptops which don't have the hardware muscle to run Vista. That's forced Microsoft to begrudgingly extend the life of Windows XP.
They will continue to sell OEM XP licenses to low-powered laptop manufacturers through 2010, though Redmond is being very specific about limiting the hardware they'll allow XP to be installed on.
Clearly, if a machine will run Vista, Microsoft wants that machine to be sold with Vista. The strange thing is, the company already has a version of Vista designed to run on stripped down PCs. It's called Vista Starter Edition, and it's sold in developing countries at a reduced price to combat piracy.
It's high time Microsoft unleashed the cheaper version of Vista here at home to combat its lackluster numbers. With a few modifications, Vista Starter Edition would run well on older business machines, and play nice with under-powered ultra-portable laptops.
Who knows, if people get used to Vista on their laptop and business PC's, they might even be more likely to fork over the cash for a beefier version of Vista on their home machines.
Source
Now Business Week is reporting that a number of large businesses are considering closing the door to Vista, opting instead to stick with XP until the release of Windows 7, due sometime before 2012.
General Motors is the latest large company to publicly consider skipping Vista, citing hardware demands and software vendors who still haven't guaranteed complete compatibility with the OS. Alaska Airlines and Transco Railway Products are two other companies likely to bypass Vista, according to Business Week.
Vista is doing better in the consumer market, of course, but that's largely because the OS is bundled with the vast majority of computers sold in retail outlets.
According to Business Week, 65% of Windows copies sold in the third quarter of last year were Vista, 35% were XP. Microsoft wanted the Vista number to be closer to 80%, but it doesn't look like that will be happening anytime soon.
The success of ASUS's EEE PC has kick-started a whole new market for ultra-portable laptops which don't have the hardware muscle to run Vista. That's forced Microsoft to begrudgingly extend the life of Windows XP.
They will continue to sell OEM XP licenses to low-powered laptop manufacturers through 2010, though Redmond is being very specific about limiting the hardware they'll allow XP to be installed on.
Clearly, if a machine will run Vista, Microsoft wants that machine to be sold with Vista. The strange thing is, the company already has a version of Vista designed to run on stripped down PCs. It's called Vista Starter Edition, and it's sold in developing countries at a reduced price to combat piracy.
It's high time Microsoft unleashed the cheaper version of Vista here at home to combat its lackluster numbers. With a few modifications, Vista Starter Edition would run well on older business machines, and play nice with under-powered ultra-portable laptops.
Who knows, if people get used to Vista on their laptop and business PC's, they might even be more likely to fork over the cash for a beefier version of Vista on their home machines.
Source
