More voices
OEM XP home and XP Pro will be available until at least January 31st 2009. OEM can only be installed on new PCs.
The Microsoft Anti Piracy team are making it more and more difficult for users to install and use counterfeit product. For example non legitimate Vista will only allow internet access for one hour a day and will only connect to the microsoft.com Anti Piracy site.
With the large manufacturers now only able to offer Vista is there an opportunity to offer your clients a bespoke build tailored to their exact specifications using XP?
Mike Barron, Enta Technologies – Microsoft authorised distributor
I think the point is
that we cannot buy laptops with XP Home installed. Who decided that Acer etc
cannot do XP Home? Acer, I don't think so.
I don't build laptops so the OEM is no good for me. The choice is Vista, XP Pro or Linux. What runs better on a low end laptop? What costs the most?
Matthew Woolley – independent retailer
Matt is absolutely
right, the large manufacturers like Acer only install Vista, XP Pro or
Linux. I expect the XP Pro offerings will soon be withdrawn too. There are
smaller OEM's that are still offering XP Home though. Fortune Technology
for example, which is a Brigantia associate offer a choice of XP Home or Vista
basic on standard builds.
My customers want XP Home, and speaking to and reading of other indie experiences, their customers do too. Consumers want a cheap OS from Microsoft and they prefer XP Home, so please Microsoft, give them the choice: XP Home or Vista basic.
Mike, I would certainly be interested in a bespoke tailor made specification laptop using XP from Enta.
Norman – independent retailer