By: Ang Biondo
Microsoft extends Windows XP™ deadline for system builders to offer and install XP on new builds to May, 30th 2009. As of Jan 31, 2009 or there about, Microsoft™ had planned to stop distribution of its XP’ products. At that point computer manufactures were to install Vista™ in all new builds as their inventory of XP runs out. I am sure a number of larger manufactures will undoubtedly order sufficient supplies to hold them over until the long awaited Windows 7®™ is released, supposedly later on this year.
Rumor has it that the beta 1 version of Windows 7®™ is scheduled to be released to the public in the 2nd or 3rd week of January. Those daring enough will be able to acquire a copy directly through Microsoft™ on DVD for a small fee, or possibly download it for free from the Microsoft™ site. This is the final version before release and per Microsoft™ policy, if you install it, it will remain active until August 1st 2009 – at which time it will cease to work. With that in mind I would presume Windows 7 will be available by then. I guess we will have to wait and see.
Windows 7® is designed to be faster, more reliable, and more compatible, with more devices and applications than ever before. For those of you interested in seeing what Windows 7® will have to offer, click on this Windows 7 ® link to see a preview video. I think you will be impressed.
Since you really need to dedicate a computer to an early version beta product, and I didn’t have a computer setup to dedicate, I chose not to run the early beta version of ‘7, I do intend to run the final copy though, as I can load it on a dedicated drive and boot from that drive. Colleagues who have been running the early beta versions tell me it is much like Vista ®™ in many ways with some unique features.
My experience when I first ran the Vista Ultimate®™ beta was quite a trip. I have to admit I was not setup for it. I ran the compatibility test on the computer I intended to install it on and it passed with flying colors. However, the compatibility test, does just that – checks for basic driver and software compatibility. It did not run benchmark tests to check for performance. It did not tell me that I needed a minimum of 4 to 8 GB of ram to access all features of Vista Ultimate®™. The 2 GB of ram my machine was capable of handling proved totally inadequate for the task at hand. It also approved my 2 GB 64 bit processor which bogged down from Vista’s demands. When I ran the 64 bit version of ‘Ultimate and encountered problems with it, Microsoft®™ support informed me that the 64 bit version was designed around the Intel®™ processors and there were some issues with AMD®™ processors. I reformatted the drive and installed the 32 bit version which was fully compatible but slow.
After purchasing and running Vista®™ Ultimate for several months I (along with hundreds of thousands of others) reverted to ‘XP Pro, and stuck with it. I’ve since upgraded that computer and have toyed with the idea of reinstalling Vista Ultimate, but have decided to wait for ‘7’s release. I hope Microsoft keeps in mind the fact that a lot of people paid a lot of money to upgrade to a dog they were forced to put out of its suffering, when the price the upgrade cost to Windows 7®™. I think there are a lot of unhappy people who still have the $150 to $499 they shelled out for Vista®™.
Microsoft has setup a program with the computer builders to allow them to pay for the XP installations after they sell the computer, or as late as May 30th. What that means is any builder regardless of size, should be able to order sufficient supplies by Jan, 30th of ’09 to get them through until Windows 7 ® makes its debut later this year, or even possible by this summer. However, if you are planning to buy from a local builder or individual who is custom building out of a small shop, I would consider making the purchase sooner. If your builder is not in a position to commit to a large supply of copies of XP®, to install on what he/she builds until Windows 7 ® debuts, you might have to settle for Vista®.
For those of you purchasing new computers, I would ask if the Windows 7 ® upgrade is included with the purchase of your new machine. If not and you intend to upgrade to Windows 7®, from what have seen, and based on Vista Ultimate® requirements, I would highly recommend your new computer is equipped with or can be upgraded with:
ü 2.5 GB (or higher) Dual or Quad core processor
ü 8 GB DDR2 RAM
ü 1 Terabyte Hard Drive
ü 3D Video Card with a minimum of 512 megabytes of onboard ram
I base this on the fact that some of the new features far exceed the capabilities of Vista® and the user touch screen user interface of Windows 7 ®. I would also recommend the use of screen protectors for that LCD monitor as well. You can expect a million fingerprints on the screen as soon as you boot it up. Those fingers hitting the icons on the screen have fingernails and if you don’t protect the Mylar or whatever plastic is used to make them, you can expect a lot of scratches in very short order.
With this announcement from Microsoft™, and the failure of their $300 million dollar ad campaign, it would seem more than likely that Vista® is headed for an early retirement. The campaign failed in its attempts to catch the eye of corporations, small businesses and home users, a necessity for a successful launch of the product, which it failed to accomplish right from the start.
Microsoft cannot afford two failures in a row. They are fully aware of the competition, Unix, and its smaller versions like Linux and the up and coming SUN Solaris operating systems. Windows 7® will undoubtedly revive the Windows era if it turns out to be everything it claims to be.
Unix® is widely used in industry, the government, and WEB hosting mainframes; it has proven itself to be extremely reliable and stable. It is not however user friendly and utilizes a cryptic command system that is not conducive for use by grandma trying to send an e-mail. However many of my colleagues strongly feel that SUN™ computer systems “Solaris 10”® operating system (offered free to download) might easily replace Windows™, and/or Unix® in the near future. I must admit, other than the “hear-say”, I can’t comment on “Solaris” as I have just recently downloaded it and begun research on it. You can check it out yourself at Solaris 10 .
Copyright© January 2009
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