Why Did Microsoft Trash XP Home Users?

[obillo]

Frankly, I hate Vista for a lot of reasons. Most are probably personal
preferences but there is no doubt about the fact that it's SLOW. (And the
fact that Windows 7 has LONG been in Beta testing suggests that even MS
engineers realize that they've produced a dog.) But I bought a new computer
loaded with Vista because Microsoft's own website led me to believe could
downgrade to good old reliable and FAST XP. Once I got the new box I gave
Vista another shot--but still couldn't learn to love it, so I decided to
downgrade. That's when I learned about the fine print: the downgrade is
apparently available only for XP PRO users. As an XP Home user, I feel
trashed. What would it have taken, Microsoft, to include the Homers? And what
am I to do now--struggle along with clunky Vista in the hope that W7 will
come to my rescue (no doubt at considerable extra cost)?

 

[Bob I]

Because that program is for Business users, not the inexpensive Home
version.

 

[smlunatick]

Frankly, I hate Vista for a lot of reasons. Most are probably personal
preferences but there is no doubt about the fact that it's SLOW. (And the
fact that Windows 7 has LONG been in Beta testing suggests that even MS
engineers realize that they've produced a dog.) But I bought a new computer
loaded with Vista because Microsoft's own website led me to believe could
downgrade to good old reliable and FAST XP. Once I got the new box I gave
Vista another shot--but still couldn't learn to love it, so I decided to
downgrade. That's when I learned about the fine print: the downgrade is
apparently available only for XP PRO users.  As an XP Home user, I feel
trashed. What would it have taken, Microsoft, to include the Homers? And what
am I to do now--struggle along with clunky Vista in the hope that W7 will
come to my rescue (no doubt at considerable extra cost)?

As of Windows XP, Microsoft had deemed that general Home users would
not know enough on how to configure XP and that they would be in a
hurry to use their PCs. Microsoft has then "dumbed" down a version of
the true XP (Pro) and made Home. (There is another "lamed" version of
XP but not available in North America.)

When Vista first came out, I do believe any version of Vista was
allowed downgrades to XP. Then, Microsoft started to limit this to
Vista Business or Ultimate version. How else would you think MS would
sell their Windows Vista if you can revert to XP on any version?

 

[Daave]

Frankly, I hate Vista for a lot of reasons. Most are probably personal
preferences but there is no doubt about the fact that it's SLOW. (And
the fact that Windows 7 has LONG been in Beta testing suggests that
even MS engineers realize that they've produced a dog.) But I bought
a new computer loaded with Vista because Microsoft's own website led
me to believe could downgrade to good old reliable and FAST XP. Once
I got the new box I gave Vista another shot--but still couldn't learn
to love it, so I decided to downgrade. That's when I learned about
the fine print: the downgrade is apparently available only for XP PRO
users. As an XP Home user, I feel trashed. What would it have taken,
Microsoft, to include the Homers? And what am I to do now--struggle
along with clunky Vista in the hope that W7 will come to my rescue
(no doubt at considerable extra cost)?

Well, you didn't read the information carefully enough. That's a shame,
but what's done is done.

If Vista really does bother you that much and if your PC is
XP-compatible (you didn't mention the make and model of your PC, so we
can't determine whether or not it is XP-compatible), perhaps you should
purchase an OEM copy of XP Home for about $90. Is that within your price
range? If not, you could always sell your current PC and purchase a
slightly used one that has XP on it for a low price. Or you could
purchase a *new* PC that has XP on it (they do exist!).

There are always options.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

/Caveat emptor/

Never assume.

 

[David B.]

It's obvious from your post you have absolutely ZERO knowledge about Windows
7, your statement about it is true BS.

You got bit because you didn't do proper research before your purchase, that
is no ones fault but your own, you made an assumption and it was wrong.

 

[Tom Willett]

Learn to read before you buy.

: Frankly, I hate Vista for a lot of reasons. Most are probably personal
: preferences but there is no doubt about the fact that it's SLOW. (And the
: fact that Windows 7 has LONG been in Beta testing suggests that even MS
: engineers realize that they've produced a dog.) But I bought a new
computer
: loaded with Vista because Microsoft's own website led me to believe could
: downgrade to good old reliable and FAST XP. Once I got the new box I gave
: Vista another shot--but still couldn't learn to love it, so I decided to
: downgrade. That's when I learned about the fine print: the downgrade is
: apparently available only for XP PRO users. As an XP Home user, I feel
: trashed. What would it have taken, Microsoft, to include the Homers? And
what
: am I to do now--struggle along with clunky Vista in the hope that W7 will
: come to my rescue (no doubt at considerable extra cost)?

 

[R. McCarty]

Along with your comment he could go ahead and get the free Release
Candidate of Windows Seven. I believe it's valid until June 2010. Of
course the RTM or final won't update the Release Candidate so he'll
face a full reload when the final product is released. Maybe instead of
going backwards he should move the other direction.

If he does decide to use the 7 RC, he'd be well advised to take an
image of his Vista setup before hand. That way if he purchases Seven
as an upgrade he'll still have that Vista image to use as a validation
setup.

The Seven Preview page is found here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Frankly, I hate Vista for a lot of reasons. Most are probably
personal preferences but there is no doubt about the fact that it's
SLOW. (And the fact that Windows 7 has LONG been in Beta testing
suggests that even MS engineers realize that they've produced a
dog.) But I bought a new computer loaded with Vista because
Microsoft's own website led me to believe could downgrade to good
old reliable and FAST XP. Once I got the new box I gave Vista
another shot--but still couldn't learn to love it, so I decided to
downgrade. That's when I learned about the fine print: the
downgrade is apparently available only for XP PRO users. As an XP
Home user, I feel trashed. What would it have taken, Microsoft, to
include the Homers? And what am I to do now--struggle along with
clunky Vista in the hope that W7 will come to my rescue (no doubt
at considerable extra cost)?

Point by point...

Your hate of Vista - personal choice.

Your "fact" that is it slow - same thing happens every time a new OS comes
out. "It's slow" whining starts up. Windows XP got it when it came out and
people couldn't run it as fast as they were running Windows 95, Windows 98,
Windows 98SE (you didn't hear much from the Windows ME people - they were
quietly regretting that decision.) If you have a newer computer (from the
day Vista was released to the public at large and newer) with a good CPU and
decent amount of memory (dual-core, 2GB) - it runs fast. Yes - you can say
that Windows XP will be faster on the same machine. Duh. Try running
Windows 98 on it - it'll run faster too. And some DOS apps - try playing
some old DOS game - you won't be able to do it. Yes - it is weighted down
with features and stuff you may never used and billions of lines of code
that mean nothing to you - but that is so it can please more of the people -
so thre are 15 different ways to do one thing - because people think
differently than each other. *shrug*

Microsoft's own website did *what*? I think you misinterpretted something.
Badly. Unless you purchase the downgrade rights from whatever OEM you
bought the computer from - you cannot just 'install XP using the Vista
license that came with it'... If you saw something that said that - blink.
Looks like you scanned the big words on some site someplace and thought "got
it" and turned out... wrong.

From what I see, you did not research - or if you did, you did a poor job.
Next time, do better?

BTW - Microsoft can disappear tomorrow - don't care. Bye Bye. Doesn't
really make that big of a dent in my life. I am not disagreeing that Vista
could have been done better, it could have. But your points are those of
the 'surface only' group - and are the same as every previous 'surface only'
whines I have read since I started following the releases of various
operating systems. ;-)

 

[Gerry]

Bear

What you say is true but a business that relies overmuch on small print
drives future customers into the arms of more accomodating competitors.

--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Gerry]

I use Home Edition. Vista Ultimate can stress a system. The Aero feature
exposed the graphics resource limitations on my computer. Adding a
better graphics card caused problems that I gave up trying to resolve so
I uninstalled Vista. I suspect many have had similar problems. Maybe
Microsoft felt the need to respond to issues Vista Ultimate caused.

--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[JS]

Windows 7 has not been "Long" in beta.
Public Beta - Jan. 10th. 2009
RC - May 5th 2009
RTM - Mid to late July 2009
GA (Gold) - October 22nd 2009

That's a fast turnaround as there are usually several betas,
one or more Release Candidates and then the RTM

 

[David B.]

He won't want to do that, according to him "even MS engineers realize that
they've produced a dog" [sarcasm]He's obviously well informed on the
subject[/sarcasm]

 

[db]

what you might try is to
install microsofts virtual pc
in vista.

it is a free program which
allows people to install
multiple o.s.'s safely and
without compromising the
main operating system.

then install your winxp
in virtual pc.

since you bought a
machine with vista
on it, its best to leave
it as is because of
the hard ware drivers.

however, if you choose to
downgrade, it will require
the complete removal of
the current o.s. and installing
the older o.s. on a clean and
formatted disk.

but, keep in mind that you will
need to install hard ware drivers
designed for your machine but
written for winxp.

so double check with the
machines home site to
find out if there are winxp
drivers for your computer.

if not, then leave vista as
is and use the virtual pc
method.

also, if your machine is
still in warranty, the tech
support people can guide
you through the process
of downgrading.

lastly, a couple of points to
address is that if your version of
winxp is a full retail or an upgrade

and if it is new or previously
activated.

--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- Microsoft Partner
- @hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~"share the nirvana" - dbZen

 

[Randem]

Why didn't you just disable Areo?

--
Randem Systems
Your Installation Specialist
The Top Inno Setup Script Generator
http://www.randem.com/innoscript.html
Disk Read Error Press Ctl+Alt+Del to Restart
http://www.randem.com/discus/messages/9402/9406.html?1236319938

 

[Gerry]

Randem

The system was dual booting Windows XP and Vista. It was more important
to be able to run Windows XP. I also prefer Windows XP disliking some of
the "improvements" in Vista like UAC and the Search engine.

--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~