I read an article first thing this morning that will please business owners running XP on their computers or planning to purchase a new computer in the next year or so.
No doubt you’ve already heard that later this year Microsoft is launching a new Windows operating system to replace the unpopular and user-unfriendly Windows Vista. The long-awaited new operating system, Windows 7, is supposed to far exceed the capabilities of Vista and will be much more user-friendly!
This is wonderful news for small companies planning to purchase a brand new computer before the end of the current tax year or anyone desperate to replace Vista as long as you’re convinced the new operating system will live up to its expectations.
What if you’re not convinced or it’s going to be costly to upgrade?
You may also have read that Microsoft was giving you till April 2010, six months after the launch date of October 22, to continue purchasing computers pre-installed with XP. After that, not only would stores no longer be able to downgrade your new computer to XP, but the cost of upgrading from XP to Windows 7 on your current computer(s) would be double the cost of upgrading from Vista. But is six months long enough to iron out all the glitches and to prepare for the switch over?
What if you want or need to stick with XP for a longer period?
Many large companies currently running networked computers on the XP operating system more than likely won’t be ready to upgrade for quite some time after the launch date, especially since full support for the new operating system may not be ready till after April 2010. And small business owners who don’t have technical support staff might prefer to stick with a system they know till full support (SP1) is available.
Now businesses have 18 months to prepare for the switch over to Windows 7Â
An article dated April 17th, however, indicates that Microsoft has listened to its customers and is actually extending availability of Windows XP computers until April 2011. This is a year longer than their original cut-off date.
If Microsoft had not listened to its customers, the cost of upgrading from XP to Windows 7 after April 2010 would have been double that of upgrading from Vista. Now busineses have an extended period of time to purchase a new computer pre-installed with XP while Microsoft iron out any issues with the new operating system and make full support available.
This is particularly good news for large businesses running XP instead of Vista on their network computers. Now, if they need to add new computers to their network they have 18 months after the launch date to continue buying computers pre-installed with XP and have more time to prepare for the switch over.
In fact, it’s pretty good news for small businesses too!
Now you have up to 18 months after the launch date of Windows 7 to purchase a computer pre-installed with XP, which means you can wait till full support (SP1) for the new operating system is availabe before you upgrade, without having to upgrade to Vista first or incurring extra costs for upgrading from XP.
You also have the added security of knowing that if you purchase a new computer pre-installed with XP it will continue to be supported till 2014.
