Microsoft OK's CyberSmart to continue XP sales after cutoff

XP sales halt on January 31, but CyberSmart Computers gets Microsoft's permission to install XP after the cut-off:

On January 31, Microsoft will stop all sales of the XP operating system that are pre-installed on new computers, allowing XP as original equipment installed only on orders placed prior to the end of January.

But Microsoft recognizes that some computer users have software that will only operate correctly on XP. The rule of thumb is that only programs marked "Certified for Windows Vista®" work reliably with Windows Vista®.

This is an especially tough problem for users of Vista-incompatible software when they need to replace their obsolete systems with new hardware. To solve that problem, Microsoft recently concluded selecting certain members of its Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (OEM) program to sell "downgrade licenses" that will allow XP Professional® installation as the original pre-installed operating system, while also selling the customer either the Vista Business® or Vista Ultimate® operating system that can be installed at a later time.

Locally, CyberSmart! Computers®, owned by Kenneth E. Lamb, got the green light from Microsoft this week to use the downgrade license procedure so computer buyers in the Pensacola Bay Area can continue to get a computer with XP Professional® installed as original equipment. XP Home® will no longer be legally available after the January 31 cut-off date for XP sales.

"We are pricing this license at its absolute minimum, $99," Lamb said. "That represents a direct out-of-pocket cost that reimburses us for the additional expense the downgrade license purchase incurs.

"This is the only legal way to get the XP operating system installed on a new computer ordered after January 31. If anyone offers another path, call the sheriff, because they are asking you to commit a felony for software fraud.

"Microsoft’s Genuine Advantage program will end up shutting your computer down in 30 days if you try to install a fraudulent copy, and it may well happen that they’ll ask the US Marshalls to pay you a visit. Microsoft is extremely aggressive about software fraud in the current depressed economy."

Because XP is used so extensively in developing nations, it will support XP until 2014. That means those who take advantage of the Microsoft program through CyberSmart! Computers® will continue to get security updates until then.

"Microsoft gets a lot of flack from the so-called computer intelligentsia, but in a time of serious economic depression, it is setting up a program that it didn’t have to set up in the US," Lamb added. "This affects everyone from large corporations to fixed-income households who now can get more life out of their software, software they’d have to replace if they had to put Vista on their new computer.

"Now you can get a computer with hardware ready for Windows 7® while saving all the money you’d have to put out to replace your XP-compatible software. Maybe now that Bill Gates is worth about $60-billion, he’s mellowing out on getting every penny he can from people. If Apple would stop charging big bucks every time they put out an update to OS X®, then everyone could feel the change where it counts; in their pocketbook."
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