Users fight to save Windows XP By JESSICA MINTZ, AP Technology Writer
Mon Apr 14, 7:49 AM ET



SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp.'s operating systems run most personal computers around the globe and are a cash cow for the world's largest software maker. But you'd never confuse a Windows user with the passionate fans of Mac OS X or even the free Linux operating system. Unless it's someone running Windows XP, a version Microsoft wants to retire.

Fans of the six-year-old operating system set to be pulled off store shelves in June have papered the Internet with blog posts, cartoons and petitions recently. They trumpet its superiority to Windows Vista, Microsoft's latest PC operating system, whose consumer launch last January was greeted with lukewarm reviews.

No matter how hard Microsoft works to persuade people to embrace Vista, some just can't be wowed. They complain about Vista's hefty hardware requirements, its less-than-peppy performance, occasional incompatibility with other programs and devices and frequent, irritating security pop-up windows.

For them, the impending disappearance of XP computers from retailers, and the phased withdrawal of technical support in coming years, is causing a minor panic.

Take, for instance, Galen Gruman. A longtime technology journalist, Gruman is more accustomed to writing about trends than starting them.

But after talking to Windows users for months, he realized his distaste for Vista and strong attachment to XP were widespread.

"It sort of hit us that, wait a minute, XP will be gone as of June 30. What are we going to do?" he said. "If no one does something, it's going to be gone."

So Gruman started a Save XP Web petition, gathering since January more than 100,000 signatures and thousands of comments, mostly from die-hard XP users who want Microsoft to keep selling it until the next version of Windows is released, currently targeted for 2010.

On the petition site's comments section, some users proclaimed they will downgrade from Vista to XP — an option available in the past to businesses, but now open for the first time to consumers who buy Vista Ultimate or Business editions — if they need to buy a new computer after XP goes off the market.

Others used the comments section to rail against the very idea that Microsoft has the power to enforce the phase-out from a stable, decent product to one that many consider worse, while profiting from the move. Many threatened to leave Windows for Apple or Linux machines.

Microsoft already extended the XP deadline once, but it shows no signs it will do so again. The company has declined to meet with Gruman to consider the petition. Microsoft is aware of the petition, it said in a statement to The Associated Press, and "will continue to be guided by feedback we hear from partners and customers about what makes sense based on their needs."

Gruman said he'd keep pressing for a meeting.

"They really believe if they just close their eyes, people will have no choice," he said.

In fact, most people who get a new computer will end up with Vista. In 2008, 94 percent of new Windows machines for consumers worldwide will run Vista, forecasts industry research group IDC. For businesses, about 75 percent of new PCs will have Vista. (That figure takes into account companies that choose to downgrade to XP.)

Although Microsoft may not budge on selling new copies of XP, it may have to extend support for it.

Al Gillen, an IDC analyst, estimated that at the end of 2008 nearly 60 percent of consumer PCs and almost 70 percent of business PCs worldwide will still run XP. Microsoft plans to end full support — including warranty claims and free help with problems — in April 2009. The company will continue providing a more limited level of service until April 2014.

Gillen said efforts like Gruman's grass-roots petition may not influence the software maker, but business customers' demands should carry more clout.

"You really can't make 69 percent of your installed base unhappy with you," he said.

Some companies — such as Wells Manufacturing Co. in Woodstock, Ill. — are crossing their fingers that he's right. The company, which melts scrap steel and casts iron bars, has 200 PCs that run Windows 2000 or XP. (Windows 2000 is no longer sold on PCs. Mainstream support has ended, but limited support is available through the middle of 2010.)

Wells usually replaces 50 of its PCs every 18 months. In the most recent round of purchases, Chief Information Officer Lou Peterhans said, the company stuck with XP because several of its applications don't run well on Vista.

"There is no strong reason to go to Vista, other than eventually losing support for XP," he said. Peterhans added that the company isn't planning to bring in Vista computers for 18 months to two years. If Microsoft keeps to its current timetable, its next operating system, code-named Windows 7, will be on the market by then.

___

On the Net:

Save XP Petition: http://weblog.infoworld.com/save-xp/

Microsoft's Windows support timeline: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy

XP >>>>>>>>>>>>> vista

I signed the petition. I like my XP. I have tried Vista and I tell you its terrible. Having to verify everything is insane.

This is what happens when one company monopolises on a market, it has the power to set and destroy trends at will. I doubt Microsoft will care if anyone signed the petition or blogged about how much they hated the company. You want results? Get your local lawmakers, congressmen, senators, etc... acting on the monopoly laws of your country, if you have any. I believe the EU had a recent victory in the courts against Microsoft last year. Too bad you don't hear about things like that happening more often.

I really like XP and I really hate being bullied into unnecessary change, to the point of giving Apple and Linux long overdue considerations

I loved XP but after a difficult start I am now beginning to get into my Vista, I just wish I could strip it down as a lot of the package is just not needed. I was using my old laptop the other day which still runs on XP and it just seems soooooo old.

i didn't really like XP at 1st, but i now think it's the greatest operating system ever made. it took some getting use to. i never used ME or 2000. i went to XP from 98. that being said - i have used vista & i can't stand it.

I haven't tried Vista, I talked to people who had it and didn't even want to go there. I like XP and I want to stick with it. I'm off to sign the petition!

For me it is pretty easy...no more XP and I'll switch my entire network to Linux (now it is only the file server and internet/intranet server) part by part every time I get a new computer and I'll wait for Microsoft to sue me.

I have absolutely no sympathy for a so called " improvement" that just slows down my computer, is as bugsy as Windows 3.0 and about as effective.

The last real reason to keep Windows, Photoshop, has a serious contender in the GIMP 2, serious enough to discontinue it.

sux for me.
i use XP 64. i do audio work and linux has nothing for me.
no support for hardware ( profesional level )
mac is just way to damn expensive to even consider.
for the kind of rig i am running right now in the mac version i am looking at $10k to do what i want it to do. ( then there is the hardware and software, we are talking about a $25k investment for just the means of getting sound onto a hard drive, with decent resolution, 48khz min at 24 bit. stay away from 32 bit floating point, it is a real step backwards )
and the availability of software in a reasonable price range is nonexsistant for mac.
i admit i am a hardware freak ( who else would drop $3k for computer monitors, trust me, they kick some seriouse a##, genelec, look them up )
but back to the software. windows trick.
switch to the last operating system when they release the new one. by that time they have finaly made it stable.
now that XP works, they want to take it away.

Ok, but were you set up as an administrator on your machine? Or, did you set yourself up as a standard user?

The market forced MS to write in the verifications, now, if you get a virus, it's your fault. I have Vista configured without the phishing filters, I'm an administrator, and I only get prompted once to verify... I don't mind it. In fact, the only time I have to respond to a security prompt is when I'm downloading something. Since I don't do that too often, what do I care?



You can use Linux, one of the many distros, or you can buy an overpriced Mac. Or you can write your own OS... whatever, there ARE choices and every OEM will pre-configure some version of Linux for you if you want it. I'm more angry that I don't have the option for who my Cable provider is.

Microsoft is complying with the EU. You can get a stripped down version of Windows Vista if you want it. Good luck with that one. LOL. I've used it, it kinda blows really.



Ok, but today's hardware CAN handle it. Do you want to use old technology? Or do you want to use the newest hardware? I prefer the newest. I have a laptop I run XP on, it's about 4.5 years old, and it runs XP just fine, However, it NEVER will run Vista well. I can't even put 2 gigs of ram in that system, the max is a gig for that board. But, it doesn't matter because I've purchased 2 laptops since then. The newest one runs Vista just fine. And when you get a new computer with upgraded hardware, you'll find Vista runs just fine. Your next new computer won't have outdated hardware. You couldn't pay me to put XP on my new laptop... no way. XP on my hardware challenged systems, sure, no problem.

Eventually, you'll be forced to upgrade if you want to continue to install and use 3rd party software, because the other software companies are optimizing their applications for Vista and the hardware Vista runs on. You won't see any software where Windows 95 or 98 is supported any more.

Microsoft ultimately gave the public what they'd been asking for... a new OS, one that is a lot more secure, one that looks better, and takes advantage of the new hardware technology. Frankly, I'm WAY more irritated by the crap the OEM's install that isn't a part of Windows. My new laptop was actually kind of running a little funky right when I pulled it out of the box. So, within the first week, I reformatted it, installed ONLY Vista, and I swear, it hasn't even thought of crashing and no apps have stuttered, not even CS3, which kind of shocked me. (one exception, I have one application, ironically a Microsoft application, that i'm sure no one here but me has ever used that seems to struggle on Vista). Granted, I don't play games, and most of the 3rd party software I use has been through app compat testing with Microsoft.

People had all the same complaints about Windows 95 when it came out, they had to dump their hardware and start over again. People thought they'd be PO'd when MS stopped supporting '95 and '98 in favor of XP. Same stuff, different year. This is why MS won't listen to the "blogs" and petitions... they've been down this road before... 3+ times.

The public complained when MS took FIVE years to release Vista, now that they have it (imho earlier than it should have been released, but the public essentially demanded it be released) they're STILL complaining.

What will happen when Windows 7 comes out? People will complain AGAIN.

Nature of the beast.

Must be because we find the same initial bugs over and over again.... I hear nobody complaining about new Linux releases.

The problems are always the same with new Microsoft releases:

Bugsy
Drivers don't work
It is really planned for the next generation hardware, therefore the speed of the machines are abysmal after installing the new DOS.

And that was the case for every new Windows release, from 3.0 to Vista.

No wonder we complain.

I have no complaints with Vista, In fact, I REFUSE to revert back to XP...

I went out and custom built a pc about a year ago now. Got it home, built it up, installed the XP x64 OS.

Wiped all the crap from the XP Install, and defragged.

It was a nightmare, It locked up ALL the time, spontanious reboots, Application crashes, you name it...

After Installing Vista Ultimate x64, the computer hasnt frozen up once! ALL of the benchmarks are at LEAST 25% higher!

Sure, there were driver issues, and a few applications that wont run on vista (THATS WHY THERE IS A COMPATIBILITY SETTING!)
and yeah, I had to wait 1 month for drivers to come out for my wireless NIC, but thats nothing compared to Vista's speed and reliability.

PC Specs:
AMD 64 x2 4200+ 2.2Ghz Dual Core CPU (OC to 3.2)
4GB DDR 400mhz Ram
Asus A8N-SLI SE Motherboard
NVidia Geforce 7600 GT 756MB DDR2 SLI Graphics Cards x2
800 Watt ThermalTake PSU
4GB ReadyBoost Flash Sticks x4

(BTW, I paid less for this PC than most people would for a new barebone HP/Compaq)

Wonderful ... so in my case I'd say to all my employees: hey guys take a month off until we have drivers that work with the new OS?

And then we pay for new software because the old stuff won't work either?

Yeh, right....

We never switched OS unless Microsoft had at least Service Pack 1 out because of these problems. And every time we switched OS a month later we also switched perfectly operable computers because they were crawling. So, not this time, it will be XP until the things bust. And after that we will see.

Uh drivers don't work, you're right about that... they NEVER do with a first release OS. Why? Because the 3rd party software makers don't update their drivers to work with the new OS until AFTER it's released. Nevermind that they ARE given the opportinuty to work witih MS to upgrade their drivers prior to the OS shipping! *gasp!*

How quickly we forget what a nightmare '95, '98 and XP were in regards to drivers. They were horrible too!

If linux's business goals were the same as Microsofts, they'd be having the same issues. (and Linux's driver issues are maddening in my opinion way worse than Microsofts in my experience) If you like Linux, use it... I'll stick with Vista though, thanks.

I have just heard crappy things about Vista...never tried it but all the things I have heard kinda makes me not wanna.

i love my XP.. don't wanna change.. nope.

Vista is utter crap. If you don't do much on your computer it won't matter too much but you're going to have to spend A LOT more money on ram and it is going to lag a lot more. For example if you are a gamer if you get windows Vista you have no clue what you're doing. Quick example, when Hellgate:London first came out it ook a min of 1GB Ram on xp, a MIN. of 2BG of Ram

I don't do the gaming, and I still don't want it...

I was a 98 second Edition user and waited until XP came out. I love my XP. ( although I still think 98 was a bit better , but not by much) My girlfriend had ME. what a peice of trash that was.

and all I hear are nightmares about Vista. I've signed and passed it on.

I've been using Vista for about 2 years now (since roughtly Beta 1) and have no problems. Like I said though, I dont' game. My daughter does game, but her problems are more along the lines of application errors. Although I guess last month the game she likes came out with an update for their software, and her games runs fine now. That's typical. If that company had wanted their game to run on Vista when Vista was released, they could have done that, but they didn't contact Microsoft to join their technical partners program (yes, it's free).

My taxing application are more along the lines of development environments and graphics application like In-design. they run fine on Vista. No problems. Granted, I have 4 gigs of RAM in this laptop... but honestly, it didn't make that much of a difference going from 2 to 4 gigs... I was a little surprised by that.

Ram is cheap, even for a laptop. 4 gigs will run ya, what? $100 if you shop around?

I just bought a new PC this week, and you know what I got as an OS? XP pro..hehe

One of the new games I bought had this listed as the system requirements.....

Minimum System Requirements:
Operating System:
Windows XP or Vista
Processor:
2.4+GHZ Intel or 2.0+GHZ AMD
Memory:
1 Gigabyte Ram (XP)
2 Gigabyte Ram (Vista)
Video Card:
NVIDIA GeForce 6 series(6800GT or better)
ATI 1300XT or better (X1550, X1600 Pro and HD2400 are below minimum system requirements)
Hard Drive Space:
12 Gigabytes
Sound Card:
DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card and drivers


Aren't new softwares supposed to use less resources than the previous versions? lol. "Any fool can make things bigger, and more complex but it takes a touch of genius to move in the opposite direction" ~Albert Einstein

I have Vista... I hate it!!! LOL

Its slow as hell! Its always updating drivers because of it being too new. None of my older programs work with it. I have to keep finding patches for it etc;

The only good thing I like about it is the Wi Fi software it has. It automatically detects my internet connection without installing anything. That's about it...

I don't understand why Microsoft has to rush software like this!? Why not wait until they know for sure everything is compatible? Then it would make money. I mean they already know that most of the software won't work with it until these companies catch up. So why not wait? Why not just upgrade XP and XP better?

OMG.. this is really scary coming from a Vista user..

Theyr'e taking XP off of the market Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I really dont want vista. it seems all bark and no bite. Especially if your like me and use a lot of programs from the 90's which have compatability issues.

Not for nothing... but I think the people should sue Bill Gates & Microsoft. If you think about it, you know how many computer problems were probably caused by his "new software" such as Vista & Norton. I bet you the people would win!!!?

Windows XP is SO much better than Vista. I have a friend who just got Vista installed on his new laptop and he has to verify absolutely everything, which is a pain itself. Why try making something better when you already have a kickass operating system such as XP.

Windows XP for the win

Microsoft released Vista before it was ready in my opinion. BUT, they had no choice! With the EU all over their backs, the DOJ all over them combined with the public sentiment that it was already 2 years past it's release date, they were forced by the market to release it. I personally think Microsoft would have loved to have delayed Vista another year or so but the market pressure forced them to release it.

If you run Vista without the Aero interface, it runs ok with 1 gig. the reality is that Vista should ALWAYS have 2 gigs of ram or more. $50 (or less) for an extra gig of ram won't kill you. Forgo a night of drinking at the pub and you can have your ram. Microsofts marketing teams DID tout 1 gig of ram as the minimum requirement for Vista. And it does run on 1 gig, but not very well. Now, it's not just Microsoft that is to blame for this. The OEM's who distro Vista, also agreed that 1 gig was the minimum. I'd like to say more on this, but I am bound by NDA. However, from what I understand, the OEM's have figured this out and it's pretty hard to buy a new computer from an OEM without 2 gigs at least.

My laptop runs Vista (with Aero turned on) with 4 gigs of ram--it came from the OEM with 2 gigs, it cost me $80 to upgrade to 4 gigs because I had to replace the existing 1 gig sticks with two 2 gig sticks, which I shopped carefully for and got it for cheap.

Vista runs great for me. Never a problem.

You all forget how much people hated XP and had the same exact complaints about it as they do Vista. The public also got MAD when Microsoft stopped supporting '95 and '98.

People also hated Windows Update when it first came out, really really hated it. But now it's accepted as a good thing and pretty well liked for its convenience.

If you configure Vista correctly, the verification process is only one extra click than it is with XP. Or perhaps you'd rather not know what's being installed on your computer so you can have all kinds of fun virii, trojans and spyware.



No. Because you as the consumer as demanding more realistic graphics, smoother video, more transactions which due to the number of bits involved use more resrouces... if we wanted our applications to use less resources, we'd still be playing ASCII games and writing letters in SGML. Have fun with that. No thanks.

Eh... I say we sue Microsoft! LOL...

I could use the money!