Windows XP to Live On Another Year in Netbooks

By Marcus Yam
published

Is Windows XP the operating system that refuses to go away?

Even though Windows 7 looks like it will be the Microsoft OS that will finally take over the PC world (again), it appears as though the road hasn’t run out yet for Windows XP.

For one year after the general availability of Windows 7 final, OEMs will still be able to pack Windows XP in with netbooks.

"OEMs that are using Windows XP on netbooks will have the ability to install Windows XP for one year — 12 months — after Windows 7 general availability," Mike Nash, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Windows product management group, said during a conference call with reporters, quoted by ComputerWorld.

Microsoft has been developing Windows 7 with netbooks in mind, even creating a version called Starter Edition which carries with it a license cost that’s supposed to keep prices low.

According to Microsoft, 96 percent of new netbooks sold bundle Windows XP. The company’s choice to keep XP going might be a hedged bet in case Windows 7 doesn’t take off on netbooks.

If it’s performance that netbook buyers are worried about, however, Nash said that Windows 7 should perform well enough on the Atom-powered machines.

"It's been a long time since we've had a version of Windows that will actually run better [than the previous version] on the hardware that most customers have," Nash said.

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.
10 Comments Comment from the forums
  • hellwig
    '"It's been a long time since we've had a version of Windows that will actually run better on the hardware that most customers have," Nash said.'

    Does this mean 7 will run better or worse? Microsoft should have learned they can't force hardware upgrades to the masses by writing shitty software. With trends actually going backwards (Atom processors being slower and less capable than most PCs even 5 years ago), I think Microsoft is really feeling the heat.

    I think it's still up in the air if 7 will accomplish what Microsoft hopes it will, and extending XP doesn't sound very confident on their part.
    Reply
  • "will run better than the previous versions" means: "Will run better than Vista and Win 2003".
    Reply
  • hellwig(Atom processors being slower and less capable than most PCs even 5 years ago)...The Atom PC on my EEEPc actually runs pretty good; also thanks to the internal SSD, boots within 50secs.
    It also has a lot faster RAM speeds than former pc's. (400/533Mhz DDR2 vs 200Mhz P4 1,4Ghz).

    I'm actually running also a trimmed down version of XP, even with a celeron 900Mhz cpu, and get equal results of the older P4 1,2Ghz thanks to the bump in memory speed. So the EeePc actually outperforms any older P4 pc; and the atom outperforms older P4's 1,6Ghz mainly thanks to it's HT capability.
    You could almost see the Atom as 2x800Mhz processors, each loading files pretty slow by themselves, but together (with multi threading) they load applications faster than my 1,4Ghz singlecore Athlon processor.
    I have no complains about the atom,but it's crappy Intel video chip.

    Nvidia's ion platform is the solution (paired with a Geforce 9400) to make many people change their mind about this chip!

    I only wished we could buy them somewhere.
    Reply
  • anamaniac
    The Atom PC on my EEEPc actually runs pretty good; also thanks to the internal SSD, boots within 50secs.
    Really? I get
    Reply
  • eddieroolz
    Not to refute anyone here, but I think the Atom at 1.6GHz is just as fast as a Celeron at 900MHz which I'm sure people know that they used on netbook until Atoms came out.

    So depending on what the Celeron core was, the Atom is not much faster than a Pentium 4 from 2006.

    Other than that, only one word in reply to the topic: "Still?"
    Reply
  • tayb
    Microsoft will give away XP before they let a notebook ship with any variant of Linux.
    Reply
  • randomizer
    I can run Portal on my netbook... sort of (I'm not pushing fantasic framerates). I was kinda surprised it even ran though.
    Reply
  • Tindytim
    taybMicrosoft will give away XP before they let a notebook ship with any variant of Linux.Damn right.
    Reply
  • jacobdrj
    taybMicrosoft will give away XP before they let a notebook ship with any variant of Linux.Isn't that exactly the point? LOL.

    On a side note:
    Atom needs a x64 version dual core with virtualization so we can run W7U XPM.

    ;)
    Reply
  • Regulas
    My netbook is mainly used as my home stereo and I like iTunes for that so XP is good. As far as my Acer Extensa 4630Z goes, I only run Ubuntu 9.04, Vista is only on a backup DVD now in case I ever want to sell it.
    Reply