Posted 9/30/2007 02:20:00 PM by Douglas

MicroSoft Vista: why?

Responding to some customers' lukewarm embrace of Windows Vista, Microsoft said it will extend by several months availability of the operating system's predecessor, Windows XP.

The company said it will make the full version of Windows XP available to PC manufacturers and retailers through June 30, 2008. It will continue to offer a basic edition in emerging markets through June 2010.

Microsoft introduced Windows XP in late 2001. The company ordinarily makes operating systems available only for four years after launch date. But delays in producing Windows Vista, which debuted in January, forced Microsoft to continue selling Windows XP longer than planned.

In recent months, Microsoft had pegged Windows XP's official expiration date at Jan. 30. That will fall by the wayside in favor of the new dates, Microsoft said Thursday.

Microsoft's official explanation for the move is that too many customers have yet to complete the transition from Windows XP to Windows Vista. "There are some customers who need a little more time to make the switch," said Mike Nash, Microsoft's Windows product manager, in a statement posted on the company's Web site.

Well if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Why would you want to get a machine that requires 2Gb of ram just to run the OS that won't run your old non-MS software?

Despite such troubling signals from the market, Nash insists that Microsoft doesn't believe Windows Vista is destined to become the tech industry's version of the Ford Edsel. "Windows Vista is on track to be the fastest-selling operating system in Microsoft's history," Nash said.

I guess his first press release of "it's crap and no one wants it" didn't fly too well.