From the You Have Got To Be Kidding Me department, certain folks are thrilled that Microsoft just extended downgrade rights…
We’re gonna need two facepalms for this one.
Of course, these "certain folks" I’m referring to aren’t home computer users but rather businesses. It also indicates that Microsoft will by 2020 have been officially supporting the XP OS for 19 years.
I want to make clear that the official extended support for XP will still end in 2014, but as long as Microsoft allows a downgrade from 7 to XP, that is technically supporting the XP OS even if only to a very limited degree.
If you’re thinking that 19 years is the longest stretch Microsoft has ever supported a specific version of Windows, you’re right. The previous longest stretch was for Windows 3.1. It was introduced originally in 1992, continued to be produced long after PC support ended and was used in embedded devices until 2008 (16 years).
Now you may be thinking, "Maybe businesses just want to save a buck by not purchasing new Windows licenses." You would be wrong there. This is a downgrade option. It means the customer has the option after purchasing a Windows 7 license to downgrade to XP, so the money for the license is still spent regardless.
You may also have the thought of, "Windows 7 has much higher hardware requirements than XP, and that’s a concern, right?" Not really. Windows 7 will run flawlessly on something even as low-powered hardware-wise as a netbook – with Aero interface mind you. Put another way, you can load 7 on a single-core 1.6GHz with 1GB RAM and a 20GB hard drive with no problem at all and use it normally. That’s 10-year-old specs for a desktop right there, and 7 will run on it easily.
Now you’re probably wondering why businesses would stick with XP at all.
There are four primary reasons why.
- Legacy support.
- Avoidance of retraining employees on a new OS.
- Avoidance of having to rewrite existing documentation.
- Avoidance of having to run a mixed-OS environment.
Per point 1, there are many apps programmed within companies called "home grown" programs. They are usually buggy nasty things that barely run on XP, so they’re pretty much guaranteed not to run on 7 at all.
Per point 2, employees appreciate routine, routine and more routine. Throw anything into the mix that’s different, and Gertrude at the front desk will freak out. "WHERE’S MY START BUTTON?! I CAN’T DO ANYTHING WITHOUT MY START BUTTON!" Yes, this really happens.
Per point 3, a new OS requires new documentation on how to do specific things in it, and nobody wants to deal with rewriting any of that. Yes, that means that companies are lazy.
Per point 4, it’s most likely true companies would not upgrade all the boxes to 7 all at once but rather do it one department at a time. At that point you have roughly a six month to a year’s worth of a mixed-OS environment, and that plays hell both the workforce and tech support every time it happens.
Even though all the above is 100% true, I still think it’s a seriously stupid idea that Microsoft has decided to allow this beast called XP to last until 2020. I’m sure that someone at Redmond thought it was a swell idea to extend support of an OS for 19 years, but the rest of us are left shaking our heads in disbelief.
Why do you think Microsoft extended the downgrade option up to 2020? To appease the corporate customer base? To cash in on legacy-leeches? How truly "ready" does a company have to be before they can start using 7?
Let us know by writing a comment or two.
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