XP gets reprieve as Vista is too big and clanky

1 Apr 2008 | 15:50 BST

By Stewart Meagher

Atomic kitten

OVER AT IDG, Sumner Lemon says Microsoft will not kill off Windows XP on June 30th deadline as it would have liked to.

The fact that Vista won't run on the current rash of low-cost, low-spec lappies has a lot to do with it.

Microsoft likes to bin its older "operating systems" in a bid to get users to upgrade to newer versions. The fact that Vista is more like a cumbersome downgrade means it's having trouble this time around.

Low uptake from users, negative feedback from those who did upgrade and a large number of "Save our XP" petitions have all contributed to the widely-expected decision to stay the executioners hand.

That and the fact that Linux seems to be getting quite a nice foothold in the budget end of the market and Vole doesn't like to share its burrow.

Microsoft has been caught with its pants round its furry ankles in the belief that system specs would rise year on year.

Poor people have cottoned on the the fact that instead of a multi-cored, megabytemongous beastie, they only need a plastic toy with a crank handle to see what this fangled interweb is all about.

And now the not-so-poor are cottoning on too. µ

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