Last day to buy XP

Today is the last day to buy Microsoft Windows XP.

It’s the end of an era.

I’m glad I don’t need a new OS right now, but next time I’m in the market for a computer, it’s going to be running Linux. I used Vista for six months (even wrote an e-book about its security), and it was so intolerable that I switched back to XP.

Microsoft has SO violated the public trust with Vista. I have no confidence that Windows 7 will be any better. In fact, it may be worse. I will be long gone.

Apparently the protests and petitions sent to Microsoft have fallen on deaf ears.  Microsoft is apparently so full of itself that it really believes that Vista is better. After all, look at the numbers: it’s selling like crazy (never mind that dealers have little choice but to gag what is forced down their throats).

One independent computer dealer I know is selling all of his new computers with Linux, and is doing well.  I’m sure that there are many more like him.

Articles:

Microsoft to stop selling XP on Monday

Microsoft smells the coffee

Maybe it’s because Microsoft is in Starbucks’ back yard – that or they are listening to the many complaints from corporate users who refuse to “upgrade” to Vista and stick with XP instead.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, is quoted as saying, “If customer feedback varies, we can always wake up smarter,” referring to the onslaught of publicity that is beginning to make Vista look like a repeat of Windows Millenium Edition – the version of Windows that nobody wanted.

Ballmer insists that Vista is outselling XP. But of course – that’s because Microsoft all but prohibits computer manufacturers from bundling XP on computers, NOT because people want it. It would be like Ford Motor Company saying, “virtually all of our cars are selling with air bags.”

Microsoft is painfully aware that it has painted itself into a very tight corner with Vista. It knows that forcing users into Vista will instead force them to Apple and Linux in droves. Apple had a smashing good quarter – is it any wonder? Vista and other overpriced and underperforming software are making OSX and Linux look highly attractive these days. And Microsoft is too arrogant and proud to admit that it has made a mistake with Vista.

I ran Vista on systems, paid full price for Vista Ultimate last year, and I’ve reverted back to XP. I consider it money down the drain. I’m happy that I’m back on XP, which I consider vastly superior to Vista in nearly every category – at least those categories that count, like usability and performance. And for other categories like security, I consider it equal.