Jaa

More info on Windows XP support, downgrades from Windows Vista

  • Artikkeli

I've had a number of discussions over the past week over customer support and downgrade rights to Windows XP from Windows Vista, so here are a few points that may help clear things up.

It's been a busy couple of weeks, what with reviews last week and the Engineering Excellence - Trustworthy Computing Forum this week.  In that time, I've been pinged and discussed several times the misunderstandings on Windows XP: several customers contacted me, concerned that they would not be able to purchase computers with Windows XP after June 30th.  A couple of people were even concerned that support ends for Windows XP at the end of June.  Both of these are misconceptions and not generally true, and I'd like to call out a few resources to help people understand the options they have today and after June 30th. 

In short...

1. You will still be able to get Windows XP Professional installed on computers after June 30th.  This is more important for sysadmins who have a large current installation of Windows XP-based systems and have not yet migrated to Windows Vista. (See details below.) If you're a consumer, consider getting a new computer with Windows Vista installed: with Business and Ultimate, you have downgrade rights to XP Pro (see below).

2. After June 30, 2008, you will still be able to get support for Windows XP, for Service Pack 2 (SP2) and now SP3. My friend, Jared, sums it up pretty good on the Microsoft Support Lifecycle blog with this post...

"Support for Windows XP will continue, in accordance with the Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy.  This means that the Mainstream Support phase will end on April 14, 2009 and the Extended Support phase will end on April 8, 2014.  That’s at least another 6 years of support remaining for Windows XP!"

In short, if you have questions on Windows XP SP2 or SP3, you'll be fine (see this link for more details on the support lifecycle.  If you're still running Windows SP1, then consider updating your machine to SP2 or SP3, as support for SP1 and SP1a ends on October 10, 2006.

Next, let's specifically talk about the right you may have (depending on the OS product purchased) to downgrade your OEM versions of Windows Vista Business and Vista Ultimate to Windows XP.  There are options available from some OEMs to specify a downgrade to and have Windows XP pre-installed when you order a new PC with one of these flavours of Windows Vista (varies from OEM to OEM).

Last month, Kevin McLaughlin of ChannelWeb noted that as we near the June 30th date, "OEMs Turn To Vista Downgrade Rights."  This is nothing new, as Kevin accurately notes...

"... Downgrade rights have existed since 2001 for Windows, but many Microsoft partners say they've been seeing a recent uptick in the number of customers exercising downgrade rights to roll Vista back to XP Professional."

OEMs and Microsoft (see this info on downgrading from February 2007, in pdf) have explained the downgrade rights that customers have, which give you the ability to use a previous version version of the OS (or other products). 

This from the Windows Vista Downgrade Rights Reference Sheet...

Downgrade rights are an end-user right and are documented in the product License Terms or End-User License Agreement (EULA) and refer to the ability of your customers to acquire the most recent version of Microsoft® operating system software but continue to run a previous version until they are ready to move to the new operating system version.

What software versions qualify for downgrade rights?
Not all versions of software contain downgrade rights. The chart below shows the OEM desktop operating system software versions that contain downgrade rights in the product License Terms and the version of software the end user can downgrade to.

The OEM versions of Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate include downgrade rights to Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, and Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. Customers may not downgrade to Windows 2000 Professional from Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate.

Windows OS Downgrade Rights 

A couple of the Frequently Asked Questions...

Q. Who can install the downgrade software or reinstall the original software?
A. An OEM (when authorized by end user), or the end user.

Q. Can end users return to Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate software after they downgrade?
A. Yes. End users who downgrade may reinstall the original software when they are ready to migrate. For example, an end user who downgrades to Windows XP Professional may later return to Windows Vista Business software provided that the end user deletes the Windows XP Professional software from the PC.

You'll also still be able to buy PCs with Windows XP until January 31, 2009 from System Builders, and Windows XP Home Edition on Ultra Low-Cost PCs until June 30, 2010, or one year after the general availability of the next version of Windows as noted on the Windows Lifecycle page.

If you are a volume license customer, see the Microsoft Select License, Open License, Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) License, and Full-Packaged Product (FPP) License Downgrade Rights (Word doc).  This document calls out the downgrade rights to prior versions of Microsoft software, and has a handy chart comparing the different Volume Licensing downgrade rights (as of January 2007; VL customers may obtain a current copy from their account team).

For more information, see also...

A final note: if you purchase your new PC with Vista pre-installed, and are considering downgrading to Windows XP, please ensure that your various peripherals and components have drivers for Windows XP. As Toshiba Canada notes in this support document (TSB001425)...

"Toshiba of Canada Limited will supply drivers and software components to applicable models that comes preinstalled with Windows Vista Business. Please check the model and SKU number on the download and drivers section first to make sure the notebook has XP drivers and software components before purchasing the notebook computer."

Tags: Microsoft, customer support, feedback, customer service, Windows XP, SP3, Windows Vista, Vista SP1.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    June 05, 2008
    PingBack from http://www.ditii.com/2008/06/06/more-info-on-downgrade-rights-to-windows-xp-from-windows-vista/

  • Anonymous
    June 06, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    June 06, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    June 06, 2008
    Slobu, for an example from Dell, see their page http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/sitelets/solutions/software/business/xp_smb. They explain that the way Dell exercises Downgrade Rights on your behalf is by selecting which operating system you would like on your PC. "You purchase the licensed rights to Windows Vista but have Dell factory install Windows XP Professional. You will also receive a backup media disc for Windows XP Professional as well as the media for Windows Vista so you can upgrade when you’re ready."

  • Anonymous
    June 06, 2008
    Squuiid, from what I understand, some PC OEMs (Dell, HP, Lenovo and others, I believe) offer PCs with Vista pre-installed, but customers who wish to "downgrade" to Windows XP can request a downgrade disc for systems that have Windows Vista Business and Vista Ultimate installed.  See the above link on Dell's site as an example.

  • Anonymous
    June 06, 2008
    Hi, The issues with downgrade rights are that they only apply to Vista Business and Ultimate. This means that users with Home Basic or Home Premium which might actually benefit from moving to XP Home (which is also not included in downgrade rights options) cannot go back to XP. Why not offer licence transfers from the other Vista SKU to XP Home at a reasonable cost to either OEM's or Home users? Kind Regards Simon

  • Anonymous
    June 08, 2008
    Thanks for the feedback, which I will share with the product management and marketing teams.

  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2008
    As I've posted previously, there's been a great deal of discussion on Windows XP support past June 30,

  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2008
    As I've posted previously, there's been a great deal of discussion on Windows XP support past

  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2008
    I have a laptop I want to downgrade from Vista Ultimate to XP Professional. I do not have an XP key. Please provide me with details of obtaining an XP Product Key...

  • Anonymous
    June 13, 2008
    my experience is that toshiba won't make the xp downgrade media available. i have a r500 with vista business preloaded. when i request the xp downgrade, they have me read my model # and say - 'no, that's a vista machine'.  right.  but the identical machine is available preinstalled with xp.  yet, somehow, my machine 'can't run xp'.  sigh.  bought a lenovo...

  • Anonymous
    June 14, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    June 17, 2008
    To "unsatisfied user" - if you purchased the PC with Vista Ultimate preinstalled on a PC from an OEM or on a PC through retailer, please contact your OEM.  

  • Anonymous
    June 17, 2008
    Hi, Dominic Thanks for your post on the issues you encountered on PCs with Vista pre-installed. I'm surprised that the Toshiba Dual Core was appallingly slow, but wonder what was the root cause of the speed bump.  For me, I found that once I uninstalled some of the software that had been preinstalled on my new PC, I saw what had been a sluggish machine become much more responsive.  If you like, please contact me via mail via the link above left (http://blogs.msdn.com/mthree/contact.aspx) to discuss in greater detail (PC model number, processor configuration). As for downgrades, the policy is that the support is for Vista Business or Ultimate, but not Vista Home Premium (disclosure: I have Home Premium installed now on two PCs -- purchased last year -- at home).

  • Anonymous
    June 20, 2008
    Mary asked yesterday morning... "I read today that computer manufacturers will start charging customers