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Bill Veghte posts “An Update on the Windows Roadmap”

Today, Bill Veghte (SVP in the Online Services and Windows BG) posts a letter discussing Windows XP, more info on Windows Vista, and the future leading to Windows 7.

imageUpon visiting the Windows page on Microsoft.com this afternoon, I was prompted to open the following letter from Bill Veghte, Senior Vice President of the Online Services & Windows Business Group.  

Bill’s letter provides more information on the continued support and availability of Windows XP, with more facts on Windows Vista, and the future leading to Windows 7. Given the number of questions I get on both topics, I thought it would be good to post a couple of excerpts here and a few thoughts as well.  Bill says…

“Your experience and satisfaction are Microsoft’s top priorities. I wanted to take this opportunity to share some thoughts about Windows and to answer some questions you may have about Windows XP and Windows Vista.

“There are three things I want to give you an update on:

  1. Our plans for Windows XP

  2. Our progress with Windows Vista

  3. Our view on Windows 7″

In talking about the future of Windows XP, Bill covers what exactly the “end of sales” date (June 30, 2008) for Windows XP means, calling out that (as I mentioned here previously  on the facts about the future of Windows XP)…

  • Yes, Windows XP will continue to be supported, given we recently released Service Pack 3, and “we will continue to provide security updates and other critical updates for Windows XP until April, 2014.”
  • And yes, customers will be able to buy PCs with Windows XP after June 30. “We will stop selling Windows XP as a retail packaged product and stop licensing it directly to major PC manufacturers. But customers who still need Windows XP will be able to get it [via]…
    • “Downgrade rights” from Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows XP Professional. 
    • a new, low-end personal computer available with Windows XP, [and via] System Builders [and] major OEMs have the option to “continue to purchase Windows XP through Authorized Distributors through January 31, 2009.”

But chance are that you already knew that. 😉

What you may not have know of some of the details behind the progress with Windows Vista.

On security improvements…

“During 2007, Windows Vista had half the number of critical vulnerabilities as Windows XP Service Pack 2 did during the same time period. PCs running Windows Vista were 60 percent less likely to be infected by malware than those running Windows XP Service Pack 2. The phishing filter in Internet Explorer 7—which is included with Windows Vista—stops about 1 million phishing attempts every week.”

On Compatibility

“Today Windows Vista supports about 77,000 components and devices, which is more than twice as many as we supported at launch… [and] 98 of the top 100 applications for Windows sold at retail in US in the last year…

“But what about gaming?”

Yes, what about gaming?

“We are happy to report we now have Application Compatibility Updates for more than 125 popular PC games to enable them to work on Windows Vista. These updates are installed automatically using Windows Update.”

My kids can attest to this: their four-year old PC running Windows Vista Home Premium runs just about every game they have… including (as of Christmas 2007) Toontown. (If you want to see what runs and what has issues, run the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor.) 

And of course: improvements with Service Pack 1

“For example, Windows Vista SP1 copies files up to 50 percent more quickly, improves the time it takes to decompress contents of a large folder by as much as 71 percent, and provides diagnostic system enhancements that make Windows Vista easier for IT organizations to support.”

As I noted on my post Windows Vista RC1 brings improved performance…, the release candidate (RC) of SP1 performed quite well on old notebook PCs, with far less time to recover from Hibernate (20 seconds), and less than five seconds from Sleep.  Since moving all machines to Vista SP1, we’ve seen improvements on a couple of areas, particularly when I removed some of the additional software pre installed by the OEM — that alone reduced my start up time dramatically on my main home PC. 

I found that a clean install on the kids’ playroom PC cut boot time to what appears to be half of what it was on XP.  (Kids are an impatient bunch, and some of the harshest critics you’ll encounter when it comes to computer performance issues.)  This level of improvement is noted in Bill’s letter as well, calling out that “One major OEM we worked with reduced system boot times by almost half, and system resume time from 15 seconds to 2 seconds.”

You can view the letter in the entirety at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/letter.html for more details.

For more information about Windows Vista, please visit this page on Windows Vista.  And for more on Windows XP availability and support, please visit this page on the future of Windows XP.

Tags: Windows, Windows 7, Microsoft, Windows Vista, Bill Veghte.

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Your questions: “Are computer manufacturers charging for “downgrades” to Windows XP?”

Mary asked yesterday morning…



“I read today that computer manufacturers will start charging customers who want to “downgrade” to Windows XP.  Is this true?”


While I can’t comment (and don’t specifically know) how each of our OEMs are handling downgrades to Windows XP from Vista Business and Ultimate (as I posted previously here), I haven’t seen any OEMs charging for downgrades to Windows XP from qualifying systems.  Mary provided a link to Darren Murph’s post on Engadget today: in it, Murph asserts that Dell will “invoke fees for “downgrading” to Windows XP”



“Just as promised, it has now bumped up the prices for folks wanting to stick with Windows XP Professional. As of now, the only way to get XP pre-installed is by selecting an option that also throws Vista in the box… getting XP Pro along with Vista Business will cost you $99 more than Vista Home alone, while having Vista Ultimate ride shotgun adds another $50.”


In the past, I think that the additional cost for customers to move their build-to-order system from Vista Home Basic to Vista Business was the same as it is now at Dell in the US — $99… with no premium to order the PC Vista Business ‘Bonus’ with Windows XP loaded. This is clear on Dell’s build-to-order page, as I found this morning…


Dell's BTO OS selection


According to Dell’s “Windows Vista vs. XP” page, Dell customers who buy “a new PC have an opportunity from Dell to buy a Dell PC with Windows XP Professional pre-installed and receive a Windows Vista installation disc.”


So, for now, it appears that ordering a system with Vista Business alone at Dell is the same price as asking to have it delivered with Windows XP installed along with a license for Vista Business. 

Dell's link to transition informationBut… Dell calls out on their site that this special is available for free from June 19 through July 7, the timeframe when customers can “purchase a Dell PC with Windows Vista Business Bonus for the same price as Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate Bonus for the same price as or Windows Vista Ultimate*.”


“This option is available through the purchase of Genuine Windows Vista Business BONUS or Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate BONUS. With either of the BONUS options, customers will be taking part in the Microsoft Windows Vista Downgrade Rights Service.”


The “*” indicates that “Pricing subject to change.” 

It’s not clear if Dell will charge for the service after July 7th.

We’ll see what happens on July 8th.


As a side note, Dell was also clear that XP support continues… 


“… customers who are currently operating XP, and wish to continue doing so, don’t have to take any action. Dell will continue to service PCs with Microsoft Windows XP.”


Tags: Microsoft, customer support, feedback, customer service, Windows XP, SP3, Windows Vista, Vista SP1.

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The facts about the future of Windows XP

As I’ve posted previously, there’s been a great deal of discussion on Windows XP support past June 30, and downgrades from Windows Vista.  Thanks to Michael and Mike in the Windows marketing group for pointing out that you can find out more at the facts about the future of Windows XP site.

The facts about the future

Provocative name. 😉

There you’ll find more info on Windows XP “downgrade rights” and answers to frequently asked questions, such as the often asked, “What’ll happen to Windows XP after June 30? I’m confused.”

In industry speak, this is called “end-of-sales.” On June 30, Microsoft will stop distributing Windows XP as a stand-alone product that you can buy shrink-wrapped in the store. We’ll also stop sending it to Dell, HP, Lenovo and all the other major PC manufacturers to sell on their PCs.

That said, Windows XP isn’t going to disappear overnight.

You may still see copies of the software—or computers pre-loaded with it—for months, as stores and PC makers work through their inventory. Also, smaller local PC makers—known in the industry as “system builders”—can continue to sell PCs with Windows XP until January 2009.

Finally, Microsoft recently announced that computers with limited hardware capabilities—devices sometimes called Netbooks or ultra-low cost PCs (ULCPC)—can carry Windows XP Home until June 2010. (Read about the ULCPC program on Microsoft Presspass.)

Also of interest: the latest facts on Windows Vista.

In order to see if your PC is ready for Vista, check out the link to the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor, which can help determine if your Windows XP-based PC can run Windows Vista. We ran this on our PCs at home prior to upgrading to Windows Vista Home Premium with SP1 on most (including a circa 2004 3.0-GHz Intel Pentium 4 with 1GB of memory, and a 1.4GHz Intel Pentium M laptop… both which are running quite nicely).  We’re also running Windows XP SP3 on the kid’s main PC, and I have Windows XP Media Center 2005 still happily chugging away. 

Not noted here: the various releases I have installed on machines at work, including Windows Vista Enterprise SP1.

Tags: Microsoft, Vista, Windows, Windows XP.

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Your questions: Where’s the best place to look online for support on Microsoft products?

Once again, I received the following question on support…

“I just installed Service Pack 3 for [Windows] XP.  Where’s the best place to look online for support on Microsoft products?”

(thanks, Shawn and Paul)

For Technical Support on Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), please visit the SP3 support site.  If you applied the SP3, you are entitled to free unlimited installation and compatibility support for Windows XP SP3, valid until April 14, 2009. (Visit the page for more info on service options and the policy).

For all other Windows XP issues, visit the Help and Support site at Help and Support site, and then choose your product.

imageAnd the best place to start for any technical support issue, try starting here on the Microsoft Support site to choose your product.  That will take you to the main page (at right), where you can select a product to see what assisted support options are available. 

Tags: Microsoft, customer support, feedback, customer service, Windows XP, SP3.

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So what do you call ultra low-cost, mobile PCs? How about “ULCPCs”

Engadget noted that the new class of Eee PC-like ultraportables was in need of a new product category

“… as we were going over some back posts that since the launch of the ASUS Eee PC (and the numerous products that have followed, from the MSI Wind to the HP Mini-Note), to the best of our knowledge we’ve all yet to have any normalized, agreed-upon name for these kinds of devices. Yes, they’re technically “ultraportables” (which we usually define as being any relatively small laptop and under four pounds), but to say an Eee PC is in the same class as, say, the Lenovo X300, the VAIO TZ, or the MacBook Air would be kind of misleading.”

I’ve seen these at work referred to as ultra low-cost mobile PCs (aka ULCPCs), as noted in our announcement of extended availability of Windows XP Home for ULCPCs. 

As for the specs, the WHDC site outlines the update to the Windows XP Logo Program: on July 1, 2008, Windows XP Logo Program closes for mainstream computers, the Windows Logo Program will accept systems for the new Designed for Windows XP logo for ultra-low cost personal computers (ULCPCs). These are PCs that meet the following requirements:

  • System ships with 1 gigabyte (GB) or less of memory (RAM)
  • Screen size is 10.2″ or smaller
  • Storage capacity is 16 GB or less for solid state disk (SSD) or 80 GB or less for hard disk drives (HDD)
  • No tablet functionality
  • DirectX version 9 graphics processing unit (GPU) or older
  • Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) S4 sleep state is optional

Additional information in the Windows Logo Program Requirements version 2.2.1a for Windows XP (available at http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/winlogo/downloads.mspx)

Michael Dix said…

“ULCPCs are a new and growing class of mobile computers designed for first-time PC buyers and customers interested in complementing their primary Windows-based PCs with companion devices with limited hardware capabilities.  These machines vary, but they typically have smaller screen sizes and lower-powered processors than more expensive mobile PCs.

“While originally intended for students and other first-time PC customers in emerging markets, we’re now seeing interest in these affordable devices in developed countries as well.”

I should say so.  I see a marker for these PCs in our own home, for our family’s casual use and travel, and at work for taking notes. 

IMHO, the 1GB of system memory is reasonable for Windows XP (which is the configuration we’ve had for our older PCs at home, and on my last Windows XP Tablet PC. I am surprised at the cap on SSD storage capacity at 16 GB: in a year’s time, I can see 32GB being quite reasonable at current price declines.  But 16GB should be more than adequate, especially when used as a primary system and application drive, leaving an SD slot populated with a 4 or 8GB SDHC memory card

More info at Windows XP Home for ULCPCs available until 2010.

Tags: Microsoft, Windows XP, ULCPC, Windows.