By Steve Ragan Apr 23, 2007, 14:45 GMT
In response to consumer demand, Dell is set to provide options for home users when they buy their next PC. Instead of being forced to use Windows Vista, Dell recently announced that they would offer Windows XP both Home and Pro editions to customers that purchase the Dell Inspiron 1405, 1705, 1505, 1501, and Dell Dimension E520 and E521.
This is good news for anyone wanting to get a new computer but baulked at the prices related to Vista. Users of the new operating system are all reporting the same thing. It is not one hundred percent compatible with all of their programs and other applications. That argument is valid, but not completely legit as it once was; this is because drivers and updates to software are being released daily for Vista. The issue is hardware related. To get the most out of Vista, you need more RAM and hard drive space compared to what you need with XP. For users who do not want a new computer but simply an OS upgrade, this poses problems.
New computers are usually shipped with the basics in the way of hardware. In the past, the basics were fine, but with the release of Vista that was no longer relevant if you wanted all of the hyped features of the new Microsoft release. Costs went up slightly because of added drive space and added RAM. Dell responded to this and agreed that offering XP to home users will not only help sales, but also meet a demand of their consumer base. Something they have recently begun taking serious, the announcement of Linux on some Dell systems, and the launch of IdeaStorm, shows Dell is moving more to what the consumer wants and needs over what they tell them they want or need.
Most computer users know what they want on a system. Dell is attempting to meet them in the middle and the recent XP announcement is just one of the many steps taken to do so. The problem that they face for this is what happens after January 31, 2008. Known as the date Microsoft will pull the plug on Windows XP OEM licenses. There was no direct answer form Dell over that topic, but if they continue selling XP, it will likely be addressed before the deadline.
In the mean time, home users have a choice, and business customers can still order XP Professional as normal on their new Dell systems. Microsoft has remained silent on the announcement, it is likely they are not worried one way or another, but popular opinion is that they should be. Vista is not doing so well even with the posted sales numbers. More often than not, people ordering new computers according to comments on many tech sites remove Vista and install XP from scratch. This makes you wonder about the proposed user numbers released that talk about the volume of people using Vista over XP.
The new systems from Dell with OEM installs of Windows XP are available now.
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