Age of Empires III demo only runs on Win XP

WE HAVE been avoiding talk of the Age of Empires III demo until now, as half the internet has been talking about it and we're not a links warehouse, but some interesting things have come to light about the demo that reflect some of Microsoft's other policies.

The company has been winding down support for Windows 2000 despite it still being used by half the IT professionals this side of Mars, and in order to install the Age of Empires III demo you'll need nothing less than Windows XP.

It's not that the demo is specifically incompatible with Windows XP, though we're pretty sure we'll get a nice letter from Microsoft hacks telling us otherwise, if 99.99% of games agree with Windows 2000 no problems we have to smirk a bit if it's a Microsoft game that forms part of the .01% that doesn't.

The problem, according to Joystiq, here, is that the demo installer is designed specifically to tell off anyone with the audacity to use anything less than Windows XP and orders them to upgrade, along no doubt with anyone looking for hurricane hurricane relief. µ