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I agree. I'm also thinking it might be a good time to update a slipstreamed disk, pull out the old cpu and blow the dust out of old Bess...give her a shot of adrenaline via a faster cpu off newegg and then install fresh.

Hopefully, that will tide me over until Windows 7 finally comes out.

How many are out there like me in a holding pattern regarding upgrading until Vista is a memory?

I'm praying for the day when I can wake up and not see Windows Vista on the shelves.

"How many are out there like me in a holding pattern regarding upgrading until Vista is a memory?"

You're making the assumption that Windows 7 will be an improvement.

"Yes, an RC is very close to final production code, but it can theoretically still change."


Unfortunately, with Microsoft you have to shift all development cycles one step to the right, with RC falling right off the track altogether.

"Release Candidates" are released with the foreknowledge that there are still bugs to be fixed, and there will be code changes. An example was RC2, where the build number is placed in the My Computer's properties instead of "Service Pack 3".

This isn't just with their Service Packs either. This "release an RC as a beta" applies to almost all of their software. Then they change the code, and release the final without a real RC. The release candidate is the one you buy.

This shift unfortunately extends backward. Beta's are often very clearly alphas. Most of the software world uses RC to mean "Candidate for Release", and potentially, hopefully, no code changes.

Perhaps this is one of the primary causes of the release buggy, fix later problem* that Microsoft has fallen in to.

*Not really a business problem for a monopoly, as there is no need to compete.

Despite my above comment, seeing that this is a rollup (including some patches you had to request prior), it seemed reasonably safe, especially compared to the alternative. And getting all those bug fixes is reason enough. If it fixes 100 bugs and creates two - the tradoff may be worth it.

Anecdotal, I know, but I have not had any issues with RC2, except that certain things will no longer show up in Windows update after you apply SP3 (IE7, WMP11, etc). But they can be installed by downloading them and I have not seen any issues with this (this applies to my virtual machines of Windows in Linux).

Another gentleman I know who installed it had to uninstall IE7 to get IE working, albiet as IE6, but then could not install IE7 again, but I believe his was not a clean install. YMMV.

Windows XP Professional Released: 12/31/2001 Mainstream support retired: 4/14/2009 Extended support retired: 4/8/2014

They will stop main support after 4.09, but will generally fix major security flaws up to 4.14

I think I read that some companies reverted to pre-installing XP. I could be wrong though.

It does not appear to be easy. At the beginning of this year I understood that the cut-off point for supplying machines preloaded with XP was 31 Jan. I was angling to get an HP or Toshiba laptop since after some research these companies *appeared* to hold out the most sraightforward downgrade/XP supply options, sometimes depending on model. However, I was informed by a reliable tech (who I have been using for some years) for example that the HP XP downgrade download had 'just disappeared' from the HP site in the UK. This was around mid-January.

Trying various outlets was like hitting your head against the proverbial brick wall - Couldn't get an off-the-shelf machine with XP, and I was told categorically in various laces (cough PC World, Dixon's cough) that were I to load XP myself I would void my warranty, etc. Very unhelpful.

So, now (despite previous posts to the contrary) I am currently a Vista user...I went with the Toshiba in the end though since they very usefully still supply XP drivers (at least for the model I got). I am now poised with a slipstreamed XP install, with Toshiba's driver base, to go XP and Linux.

But Vista's eye-candy is like the Voice of Saruman...Got to summon up enough plain Hobbit courage and common sense to resist...(just a bit of hairy-footed humour)...

Edited - It strikes me I may get some feedback along the lines of 'why didn't you just get a laptop without an OS'? Just to say, for information, I tried this option, but even with the Vista tax, the hardware specs I got on this machine surpassed anything I could expect from going down that route, unfortunately, although the process did throw up some interesting small-scale suppliers.

Edited 2008-02-21 07:52 UTC

Is that available on all of their computers? When I checked a while back, it seemed Dell was only offering XP on a select few systems.