"PA Bear [MS MVP]" wrote:
>
> Your assumption above is flawed: MS didn't sell you the computer, HP did.
> And it's a Vista-compatible computer, not an MS-compatible computer.
>
> See Malke's reply for possible resolutions but understand that your HP
> warranty and any service contract are both void now.
>
> PS: I see plenty of WinXP PCs still for sale at HP website; e.g.,
> http://www.hp.com/sbso/buyguides/pg_...ok-finder.html
>
Dear PA, you seem to be taking me for a fool. So let me explain to you how I
got into this what you seem to think is a mess.
- I have been using XP for years and I like it. Apart from the newly
purchased notebook, I have a HP Compaq and a Dell desktop PC at 2 home
locations, both running XP Home. My wife is about to take an Excel course
which is given using XP Home, like most PC courses in Switzerland. Almost the
only people using Vista here are those who have recently bought a cheap
laptop or notebook and didn't change the OS.
- I work for a company with more than 80,000 employees and we have about
50,000 HP desktops, laptops and notebooks, as well as HP screens, servers and
laser printers. We switched the PCs from Dell 2-3 years ago. It goes without
saying that all this stuff has to be able to run recent and near-future MS-OS
systems. We are still using XP-Professional as the company wide OS standard.
It was decided that it is not worthwhile to switch to Vista. Sufficient
benefits are just not there. Neither at work nor at home do I play a
significant amount of videos or films and nowhere games. Our computers at
work and in our homes are protected by the best Norton products (free for
employees).
- From this you can deduce that I am hardly a perfect customer for Vista.
However, MS has contrived that all volume (=low price) sales of PCs are
supplied with Vista pre-installed, at least in Switzerland. I paid approx.
$575 for my Compaq Presario Laptop which has 4 MB RAM and a 2.16 GHz
processor. At that price I don't complain about Vista, I change it. The
prices on the HP website which you directed me to are ridiculously high.
- This is the second time you told me that I have breached the product
warranty. I don't care. I am not going to pay the double for a notebook, just
so that I can choose the OS. The only risk I am taking is a hardware fault,
which I have never had in the past 30 years, but if it should happen within
12 months, I would try to claim against the retailer. I am insured for legal
expenses.
- Let me make it clear that I have a high regard for both MS and HP, both on
the grounds of customer loyalty through having used their excellent products
for the last nearly 30 years and on the grounds of their innovation and
competitiveness in the computing industry. I was one of the first Compaq
portable users in 1983 and I expect an equivalent high standard now. If HP
brings Compaq computers onto the market which are not MS compatible, it can
say goodbye to its reputation.
Regards, Lancelot