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PC Makers Offering a Bridge Back To XP
The Telegraph is reporting on efforts by PC manufacturers to give customers buying systems pre-installed with Windows Vista a much-sought way to downgrade to Windows XP. ( A few months back we discussed Microsoft's similar concession for corporate customers.) "It took took five years and $6 billion to develop, but Microsoft's Vista operating system, which was launched early this year, has been shunned by consumers — with computer manufacturers taking the bizarre step of offering downgrades to the old XP version of Windows."
With a capital C. MS has firmly taken control of device drivers on Vista. You can't get a driver to install unless it's submitted to MS for DRM compliance.... er, I mean "Quality Assurance"... and get them to sign it. (Actually you can get an unsigned driver to load but the average user isn't going to go through the procedure every time they boot their PC.)
As new hardware comes along they will do their damndest to make sure it's supported on Vista while downplaying and actively discouraging the development of XP drivers for said hardware.
It might start with USB 3.0, which I saw mentioned for the first time last week in the mainstream press. If Vista fully supports new and cool hardware that use the new standard while XP seriously lags behind, that could be the first Big Hammer they bash everyone over the head with in their quest for more Control. With a capital C.