Win 7 is the best, no need to downgrade.

I wonder if they will keep doing this for Windows 8...

There is a time when the old OS just has to die. Sure, it might be fast, and supposedly "secure", but no one can deny that compared to Windows 7/Vista, XP is full of holes.

Let it die. Please.

Considering it's only an option with the higher-end packages it seems XP availability is still a "feature".

There's nothing better than WinXP for mini notebooks, netbooks, and even laptops.
Windows 7 is still heavier than XP. Many companies rely on software written for XP, and no say if it will work with 7.
If I run a quick batterytest on my netbook,
XP gives me roughly 3,7hours of battery.
Windows 7 gives me 3,3 - 3,4 hours of battery.
Windows Vista gives me 2,7 - 2,8 hours of battery.
Netbooks and mini netbooks are not really made for other than basic and +4year old games running DX9.

Running Windows 7 will decrease battery life, compared to XP for regular office jobs and internet tasks, (especially with the pre-loaded IE8 which is much heavier than IE7).
Windows 7 has more background tasks running, more system resources taken, unless you set it to display Windows 9x/NT/2000/ME theme, the Win 7 theme utilizes more memory, GPU, and CPU to load than XP.

Really, I see no reason why you would even say Windows 7 is THAT superior, just because it was released 6 or something years later...
I mean, Windows7 is still not released. At this moment XP is still KING of the hill apart from extreme gaming on DX10 games.

why do you do this microsoft?

This guy ^ clearly has no idea what the heck he is talking about.

I wonder if this lets me downgrade a windows 7 systembuilder OEM kit to a 64bit windows XP.

For as far as i could find when shopping for some lenovo machine's last year the lenovo downgrade kit only let you downgrade to windows XP 32.
Unless microsoft seriously creates a theme (or better theme-less desktop) that not only looks but also works like windows 2k i wont be spinning windows 7 any time soon.

I know that this statement might get me a load of flames so let me ensure you i tried windows 7 and i like what they did to it but my personal preference is a lean mean uber clean close to minimalistic GUI (but not so minimalistic that they cut out the left half of the windows explorer).

The lenovo windows vista downgrade kit that is ! (we need edit buttons)

Read that and didn't go further.

One word: Ubuntu


Ok Mandriva's alright too, but I believe they are proprietary, which defeats the whole idea of open source...

And it seems that you are associating the term 'better' directly and strictly with 'power efficient', in which case and distro would own XP.

@ProDigit80
You sound scared. Maybe you’re in the wrong field.

@computabug
Why do you guys keep embarrassing yourselves? It's been available for over 14 years, FREE, and easily obtainable, yet has relatively little market penetration. Please take a hint.

@hemelskonijn
If the "Windows Classic" theme included with vista and 7 isn't basic enough for you, or you just don't know how to customize the individual UI settings to tweak it even more, then a new OS is the least of your problems.

Remember that many home users want a similar feel on their netbook that they have on their desktop at home and their PC at work. When they have Linux at home and at work, then your arguments will be more valid. Until then, Windows is still going to be the most widely used. I remember that stupid news clip where the girl bought a Dell laptop with Linux, but when she couldn't get a lot of her school stuff to work, she wanted to return it and it was a big mess. I agree, she seemed to be a few fries short of a Happy Meal upstairs, but the average consumer won't know much more than she does.

You and I know how to make our crap work with Linux, at least the main stuff that we need. But not everybody does. And some people actually like MS Office better than free alternatives for their work, school, etc.

If you want to make money, you market to the masses. People here keep forgetting that.

Oh god, xpire upgrades are getting costlier by the year... If the upgrade from vi$hta costs you an arm, the one from $even will require a leg, too.

Just for m$ to claim "more" $even licen$e$ $0ld... great for $tati$tic$ - $ame $ad vi$hta $tory.

I think this is kind of similar to when Apple decided to switch to Intel to let people know that they can always switch back to Windows if they have to. This way, Microsoft gives people an assurance that they can switch back, but probably only a select few would. Either way, I think it's win, win. Microsoft sells more Win 7 and people who want to run XP can do it.

I heard the same crap when Vista was released. Everyone said how awesome it was and how much better it was than XP and then there was a huge backlash.

vorless do you still use ancient operating systems like windows 98? hell no - xp is the windows 98 of todays standards - rubbish, time to move on from crap to window vista or windows 7, for microsoft to allow downgrades to xp is stupid

With no XP mode for windows 7 home versions I think a lot will be downgrading. Even for home users the massive amount of programs being no longer usable will make for a big headache. Almost no OEM systems come with more than 4GB's of RAM so really I see no disadvantage to sticking with XP.

If home user cant run every program ultimate edition can it will fail. The only thing Ultimate should have over home is the use of 2 or more GPU's, 2 or more cpu sockets, and better networking. These are the things the average home user doesn't have.

olteky:

So because i know how to get it the way i want i have to get windows 7?
There is nothing wrong with windows xp it does what i want it to do so its a bit shortsighted to just tell me i am a moron for liking it.
Also it shows you cant read that well i run several linux systems a BSD server and a powermac G4 and they all run fine.
I am a system administrator and engineer and in general a giant geek.
So its not that i am to used to my old gui its that i dont like the new one its not a lack of knowledge either.

Your a moron for thinking every one likes the same stuff you do.

It would be nice if MS made an enthusiast edition of W7.

Meaning; this version would install a basic - light-weight - OS with no bells and whistles. At some late stage in the installation process, you would be prompted to add features as needed. I'd even be willing to shell out more ca$h for a leaned out version of W7.

I've tried W7 and its a bit more streamline than Vista but it still has the typical MS OS bloat (more of it actually).

Well, I can dream (W7 Enthusiast Edition!) can't I? lol

I don't even know why people even rollback at all. Unlike how the media is portraying Windows Vista, I would rather run it than XP anyday and am doing so right now. Windows 7 doesn't feel like that big of an improvement either. Only Windows Server 2008 R2 feels like any improvement worth paying the money for an upgrade.

If you search thorough, the vi$hta version is there. It's called $erver 2008. And m$ followed your de$ire$... at least ca$hwise.

"With no XP mode for windows 7 home versions I think a lot will be downgrading. Even for home users the massive amount of programs being no longer usable will make for a big headache. Almost no OEM systems come with more than 4GB's of RAM so really I see no disadvantage to sticking with XP.
"

Except that only Professional and Ultimate editions will be eledible for the downgrade program. Just as they are today. What Microsoft is offering is nothing new, it's been that way for years (Even before XP)

Almost no OEM systems come with more than 4GB's of RAM so really I see no disadvantage to sticking with XP."Except that only Professional and Ultimate editions will be eledible for the downgrade program. Just as they are today. What Microsoft is offering is nothing new, it's been that way for years (Even before XP)[/citation]

Every laptop over $650 at best buy has 4Gb of ram, with a few with 6GB. 1 year ago the average in that price range was 2-3, with 32bit os'es. A year from now, and most laptops will have even more memory; I can see 8GB becoming a fairly standard measure as the prices on 4Gb sticks of ddr2 are dropping.

Speaking of desktops, every desktop over $499 has 4gb, over $600 typically nets you 6GB, and over $779 nets you 8Gb. This is going to go up as well, because ram is a cheap way for OEM's to make their specs look more impressive, it is really a numbers game from this point.

I build all of my own desktop computers, and I will never again build a computer with less than 4GB memory (6 for x58) and I will be using Vista x64 until seven is released on all my builds.

Funny enough, I have more issues these days with driver compatability with XP than vista x64.

Hmmm... Windows 7 isn't even "officially" out (read "available for purchase") yet, and they're already backpedaling about XP? To me, that's not a good sign. At least with Vista, they waited until the bad reviews got published before they offered upgrades to XP.

@elbert
“Massive amount of programs being no longer usable”
As goes with any OS upgrade, any program written that strictly followed the SDK should work fine, of course judging by your comment you’re most likely looking up the acronym “SDK” right now.


@cloudnine
As you are obviously not one I’ll explain.
They know that an actual enthusiast wants it all; including the ability to chose for themselves how the OS gets streamlined.


@deltatux
You’re attempt at using the mention of 2K8 R2 to in a misguided effort to sound informed was decimated by the fact that you’re comparing two OS’s specialized for 2 entirely different audiences.


@tormdk
Which is why market share numbers show that software developers “even before XP” have been flocking to other operating systems ““even before XP”. Hell, you can hardly find software for windows anywhere.
(note sarcasm)


@NoCalDrummer
So now MS giving options is bad also?
Shouldn’t you be more concerned with your poorly written software that won’t work on the new OS?

Not so because home users of all version of xp and before have had as good a backward compatible as costly versions. This is the first time M$ has made any difference in backwards compatibility in an SKU. I bet OEM's will offer XP as an option instead of win7 home versions. That or risk sales.

Every laptop over $650 at best buy has 4Gb of ram, with a few with 6GB. 1 year ago the average in that price range was 2-3, with 32bit os'es. A year from now, and most laptops will have even more memory; I can see 8GB becoming a fairly standard measure as the prices on 4Gb sticks of ddr2 are dropping.Speaking of desktops, every desktop over $499 has 4gb, over $600 typically nets you 6GB, and over $779 nets you 8Gb. This is going to go up as well, because ram is a cheap way for OEM's to make their specs look more impressive, it is really a numbers game from this point.I build all of my own desktop computers, and I will never again build a computer with less than 4GB memory (6 for x58) and I will be using Vista x64 until seven is released on all my builds.Funny enough, I have more issues these days with driver compatability with XP than vista x64.[/citation]
So basically get a high end CPU, 4GB's of ram, and XP and be happy. be sad with a tri core phenom not current phenom 2, wrong memory ddr2 5300, and vista for $550 gateway. I see 46 desktops with 4GB's or less with only 18 more than 4 starting at $550. The $550 gateway is crap so shouldn't even count. Bestbuy has 1 laptops with more than 4GB's for $1200 and zero netbooks.
You build your own so why don't you state less than 6GB's? 4GB's with an integrated gpu, as is the case with most OEM's, is fine for XP.

AS goes with windows xp and before low end SKU's had as good a backwards compatibility as the higher SKU's. Judging by your comment you just look up "SDK". Judging by your comments you are now looking up "SKU's".

Under XP I can get programs made all the way back to DOS to work. Kind of blows your "SDK" statement back in your face. 2 or 3 years down the line most programs that don't work will be emulated. What sucks is M$ is going to make us wait or pay more for something that we will be free though emulation is about 2 years.
If Microsoft knows what enthusiast wanted M$ would have a new higher end SKU to sale.