04/21/2008, 2:25pm, EDT
Monday, April 21stDell using XP until 2012, Audible on Zune
Dell will keep using Windows XP until as late as 2012, a company representative has reportedly told users. Although Microsoft has said it would discontinue the option for XP this year in all but very low-cost notebooks, the claimed Dell message says the PC creator will continue offering XP Professional until 2012 on all its higher-end business offerings, including the Latitude, Optiplex, and Precision lineups.
The gesture follows "a lot of emails" from buyers concerned about the end to the OS and will let any buyers take a free upgrade to Vista when ready, according to the representative.
Dell has not yet commented on the matter, but if accurate would carry the six-year-old operating system past the expected 2010 release date of Windows 7 and more than ten years after its debut, casting doubts on expectations for Vista. Businesses have been historically reluctant to adopt the 2007 OS over concerns of backwards compatibility as well as increased performance requirements.
The news also comes the same day as Microsoft says it has completed Windows XP Service Pack 3, the last major roll-up patch for the software and an effort meant to reduce the number of downloads and updates required to install the OS in the future.
Separately, the same report also notes that Audible has confirmed its audiobooks will be supported on Microsoft's Zune players, filling in a support gap that has been present on the jukeboxes since their launch in late 2005. Audible hasn't set a firm release date but expects the change "before years [sic] end," suggesting the copy-protected format may come along with the release of third-generation Zune players as a major firmware upgrade.
Filed under: computers, industry
Other story tags: Dell, Vista, Zune, Latitude, Precision, Audible, Optiplex
, 
, 8
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
Top
subscribe to comments
for this article
How they're going to continue to provide XP Pro after MS stops making it is unclear; will Dell get into the counterfeiting business, or ... ?
No wonder Dell and others have been "begging" Jobs to license OS X ...
The reason is that if you've got a full 10.4 installation, you may want to replace a machine but are not ready to upgrade to 10.5 because their software isn't yet ready. Eventually they will want to and having all the new machines pre-paid up makes it an easier transition.
You believe that Dell will continue offering an operating system which would be two platforms behind, for which Microsoft will not longer provide tech support or updates.
Grow up and read a real blog. As pro-apple as Gizmodo is, at least it had credible sources/arguments.
It may not even be that the software isn't ready. It could be that the OS isn't ready. Or you still need to spend time to test all your apps used throughout your setup. Or you've standardized on 10.4 and want to stay that way for a good year because it's just easier to do that (why spend time and money just to upgrade an OS that currently works for you?).
They do this on machines for an unspecified period after an upgrade but then stop without telling you.
They don't, really. What happens during the crossover is that they just throw an upgrade disk into the boxes so they don't have to re-image the computer disks. But new computers coming off the line will be with the new OS.
However, the problem is that Apple makes no effort (and cares not to) in providing any updates needed to support newer hardware with the old OS. So even if you've settled on 10.4, you're stuck going to 10.5 if you make a hardware purchase that includes any new models (older models should still be able to run 10.4, but most likely aren't supported, since it isn't the OS that came with it).
Reason 108,591 why Apple will never succeed in the Enterprise.
It took years after XP was released before most large corps made the switch from 2000.
Then again, it is so weird for a computer company to actually try to specify what their plans are for the next several years. You can't get any info except the usual "We don't comment on unannounced..." from Apple.
I don't expect that to remain in place forever. Businesses are cautious and people are not very bright, but time erodes all.