Get Ready for Vista! - Say Goodbuy to an Old Friend - Windows XP

Hi Everyone,

Well that time is finally here - Microsoft will stop selling Windows XP today June 20th. As you can see below, you can still get XP, but at what cost? Let’s say you are buying a machine that comes with Vista (which can cost a bit for the better versions) You will also need to buy a downgrade license for XP, AND now you will need to pay an extra 2 or so hours for us to re-load the machine with XP and get it working they way it was with vista. This includes finding all the drivers and settings for that machine that work with XP. With the time it takes us to re-load and the licensing costs is the extra cost worth it to you? This will inflate the cost of a PC by about $300 or so. Some customers want XP because that’s what they know, some want it because their apps support it (or so they think).

My opinion is anyone can run it at this point. Microsoft has put many "Fixes” , and “enhancements" into the SP1 version of vista. Even on my laptop, Pre-SP1 and SP1 Versions of VISTA run very differently. SP1 seems to be very smooth and I have little to no problems compared to when I was running Vista with no support pack.

Now remember, if you are buying a Vista based PC, make sure you have the following - At least 4 GIG's of RAM, and Vista Business (any flavor). Follow these guidelines, and you will surely have a good experience with Windows Vista.

Below is an article I found about the change.

REDMOND, Wash. (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. is scheduled to stop
selling its Windows XP operating system to retailers and major
computer makers Monday, despite protests from a slice of PC
users who don't want to be forced into using XP's successor, Vista.

Once computers loaded with XP have been cleared from the
inventory of PC makers such as Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co.,
consumers who can't live without the old operating system on their
new machine will have to buy Vista Ultimate or Vista Business and
then legally downgrade" to XP.Microsoft will still allow smaller
mom-and-pop PC builder shops to buy XP for resale through the
end of January.

A version of XP will also remain available for ultra-low-cost PCs
such as the Asus Eee PC.A group of vocal computer users who
rallied around a "Save XP" petition posted on the industry news
site InfoWorld had been clamoring for Microsoft to keep selling XP
until its next operating system, Windows 7, is available. The software
maker has said it expects to release Windows 7 sometime in 2009.

Last week, Microsoft said it would provide full technical support for
six-year-old Windows XP through 2009, and limited support through 2014.

Again, Thanks for stopping by!

Charles J. Love
Technical Services Manager
Big Sur Technologies, Inc.
http://www.bigsurtech.com/