Microsoft Doubtful of Win XP's Netbook Future
It seems the OS from two-generations ago is on its way out.
Windows 7 is here and it's pretty good. If you're a road warrior armed with a netbook, however, it seems that Windows XP is still the choice for those who demand the longest battery life. But Microsoft doesn't foresee that Windows XP will be living much longer on those tiny little laptops.
With Windows 7 being the main product now that Microsoft, it sees little reason to market and push Windows XP as the operating system of choice for netbooks. In fact, instead of pushing the low-cost Windows 7 Starter for netbooks, Microsoft is giving it the full treatment with Home Premium.
The director of netbook PCs in Microsoft's Windows client group, Don Paterson, told The Register in an interview, "We will continue to make Windows XP available for those devices [netbooks], but it doesn't make sense to put marketing effort behind those devices. As much as we make Windows XP available for a year, we won't see it last in the market that long. We will get through the holidays. My gut [feeling] is we will walk away from the holidays and see that it's not worth keeping it in market."
Paterson added that those who "do their homework and understand the value proposition [of Windows 7 Home Premium] will migrate," while those who choose Windows XP are just looking for "absolutely the lowest cost device" or are just resistant to change.
From here on out, it seems that Windows 7 Home Premium is that main choice for nearly all consumer PCs.
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So what about the battery life? Dual boot with some variety of low power using mini Linux OS and only use Windows for Windows apps. Startup time will be quicker too and it really isn't that complicated to use. It's ideal for a netbook and free.
^+1 to dual booting on netbooks. I'm glad they'll be doing home premium on netbooks too - Next gen netbooks have gfx support for aero.
Obviously M$ does not want to sell XP - they want us all to buy their latest OS. But XP works fine, it has unrivalled driver support, is as solid as a brick, and gives you the very best battery life. I won't buy '7' until I have NO option.
Obviously M$ does not want to sell XP - they want us all to buy their latest OS. But XP works fine, it has unrivalled driver support, is as solid as a brick, and gives you the very best battery life. I won't buy '7' until I have NO option.
That is true and with 7 still being somewhat new, there are still all the device drivers still yet to come out. Along with gaming compatability, some of the best games are the older ones and with 7 strolling along, those games will not be playable with ease, though at least it is releaving that Vista isn't going to be used on these netbooks. That was a failure of an OS
Just as stated by XPforever, XP still seems to be a good choice for both those who have up to date hardware as for those who are more than outdated. And of course , being part of the strategy that MS holds against XP to make users change to Windows 7 sounds a bit selfish.
Everyone has the right to choose...Whether people stay or upgrade to a newer version of Windows.
In some cases XP still proves to be beneficial ( as mentioned with battery life ) although it lacks some security enhancements as well as some basic components that make it even faster on latest hardware they can be all dealt with.
In my opinion, if MS wanted DirectX10 or 11 on XP they could have done it. That is if they wanted to stick to it. But it seems the more XP was on the market the more it has to disappear nowadays. (Bad policy) Maybe because it was one of those OS-s that not only out-shined but also had been good choice for more than 8 years.
Though using Win 7 will be beneficial as we cannot undo what has been done. Hopefully it won't end up as Vista or XP when Win 8 gets on to the shelves.