Linked by Tony Steidler-Dennison on Mon 28th Jul 2008 18:42 UTC, submitted by Dan Warne
Windows Business PC buyers are still overwhelmingly opting for XP, computer giant HP has revealed. Yet at the same time, Microsoft is claiming that Vista is selling faster than XP ever did ... so where's the truth? HP, which is the world's number one computer maker, has explained how Microsoft comes up with these dubious statistics.
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oh dear
by raver31 on Mon 28th Jul 2008 19:21 UTC
raver31
Member since:
2005-07-06

And, this is news... HOW ?

Reply Score: 5

RE: oh dear
by wrocic on Mon 28th Jul 2008 19:22 in reply to "oh dear"
wrocic Member since:
2008-07-10

It is news to me, every PC i have seen for sale have Vista on them, where oh where can I buy an XP machine ?

Reply Parent Score: 7

RE[2]: oh dear - officially?
by jabbotts on Mon 28th Jul 2008 19:35 in reply to "RE: oh dear"
jabbotts Member since:
2007-09-06

You can't. HP is only able to offer XP upgrades with a Vista license for business customers. MS get's a Vista +1 sale, HP gets a business customer +1 sale, business customer gets XP; mostly win,win,win.

Now, if you can convince HP that your new machine is for business use and HP has hardware that fits your needs; that may be a way.

Reply Parent Score: 6

RE[2]: oh dear
by flanque on Mon 28th Jul 2008 21:24 in reply to "RE: oh dear"
flanque Member since:
2005-12-15

Some stores are offering Windows XP and Windows Vista with computer purchases.

Weird scenario.

Reply Parent Score: 2

RE: oh dear - beat me too it
by jabbotts on Mon 28th Jul 2008 19:40 in reply to "oh dear"
jabbotts Member since:
2007-09-06

There was only the one comment when I popped this article. You beat me too the second by the time I read the article and swapped back but I was thinking the same thing:

MS counts a Vista license as a Vista sale even though they allow Vista licenses to be used against XP installs??!! Next they'll tell us that MS counts any license going from there warehouse to a reseller's warehouse as a sale even if that license is not yet purchases by an end user. Say it isn't so!! Oh the humanity!! Who will think of the children.. oooh.. won't someone think of the children!?

I kind of thought there was going to be something new in the article though too rather than just a major vendor like HP stating exactly what everyone else has been stating since the first release of MS sales figures for Vista.

This is why "figures" will continue to be complete bunk until the counts for OS activations and updates can be reviewed. I can't think of figures that would be more accurate for measuring actual end user installs rather than business to business resales. MS knows what those figures are but they obviously don't match the marking or they would have been paraded prominently already.

Edited 2008-07-28 19:44 UTC

Reply Parent Score: 6

RE: oh dear
by Vanders on Mon 28th Jul 2008 20:38 in reply to "oh dear"
Vanders Member since:
2005-07-06

If you're an OEM or ISV, it's very useful to know what your platform demographic is.

For example an OEM developing a new bit of hardware would apparently be wise to concentrate on developing XP drivers before they worry about Vista, because the majority of their customers will likely be using XP.

Likewise if you're an ISV, you might think twice before you start to make use of any Vista-specific APIs or features.

Edited 2008-07-28 20:38 UTC

Reply Parent Score: 5