Windows 7, Vista Downgrade to XP Rights Updated

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Now when you buy a fancy version of Windows 7, you can roll back to Vista or XP!

Those of us who have used Windows 7 see it as being a worthwhile upgraded solution for both users of Vista and XP. We think it fixes and improves nearly every aspect of the OS.

So why would anyone buying a new PC packed with Windows 7 want to downgrade to Windows XP, or even Vista? Other than for business compatibility reasons, we can’t think of any (and even then, Windows 7 has XP Mode).

According to TechARP, Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate editions will include rights to downgrade to either the equivalent version of Windows Vista or Windows XP Professional (or Tablet PC).

All of these options will supposedly be available for a limited time only, as Windows XP downgrade rights might not make it past more than six months into Windows 7’s general availability.

Clearly, the option to downgrade allows Microsoft to sell Windows 7 licenses with new PCs while giving OEMs a way to sell to customers not yet ready for the latest software.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
27 Comments Comment from the forums
  • war2k9
    Win 7 is the best, no need to downgrade.
    Reply
  • eddieroolz
    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.
    Reply
  • jhansonxi
    Considering it's only an option with the higher-end packages it seems XP availability is still a "feature".
    Reply
  • 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.
    Reply
  • apache_lives
    why do you do this microsoft?
    Reply
  • hemelskonijn
    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).
    Reply
  • hemelskonijn
    The lenovo windows vista downgrade kit that is ! (we need edit buttons)
    Reply
  • computabug
    ProDigit80There's nothing better than WinXP for mini notebooks, netbooks, and even laptops.
    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.
    Reply
  • @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.
    Reply
  • TheZander
    olteky@ProDigit80You sound scared. Maybe you’re in the wrong field.@computabugWhy 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.@hemelskonijnIf 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.
    Reply