Windows 7 was announced on June 24 with a ship date of January 2010, (see “Microsoft VP confirms Windows 7 ship date: January 2010” from Info World). This is quite a big deal, as Vista was only released in January 2007, and now the next version of Windows is being announced with a ship date. On top of that, to quote from Information Week, Microsoft has promised support for Windows XP through 2014 ( see “Microsoft Pledges Windows XP Support Through 2014“).

Another gem in the same article says:
“(Microsoft) has apparently accepted the fact that many of its largest customers will skip Vista altogether and will continue using XP at least until Windows 7 becomes available three years from now, and possibly longer.

In addition to supporting XP through 2014, Microsoft is now actively promoting a program that allows customers to downgrade Vista systems to XP through a loophole in the company’s licensing terms. Microsoft’s software license allows customers who purchase a copy of Windows to install and run a previous version of the OS at no additional cost.”

Windows 7 gives something for companies and individuals to wait for. If you cannot wait until 2010 for a new PC, Vista should be fine if bought on a powerful enough PC, although research any possible peripheral incompatibilities (Palm handhelds etc) first.

As for extended support for Windows XP, I don’t think this is completely unheard of, as Windows 98 was supported until a few years ago. Then companies were installing Windows 98 on PCs which been shipped preloaded with Windows XP.

Posted on June 30th, 2008 by mervyn