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XP's End Will Do More For PC Sales Than Win 8, Says HP Exec
dcblogs writes "Hewlett-Packard executives say that the coming demise of Windows XP next year may do what Windows 8 could not, and that's boost PC sales significantly. 'We think this will bring a big opportunity for HP,' said Enrique Lore, senior vice president and general manager of HP's business PCs. Lore was asked, in a later interview, whether the demand for XP replacement systems could help sales more than Windows 8. His response was unequivocal: 'Yes, significantly more, especially on the commercial side,' he said. Lore said 40% to 50% of business users remain on XP systems."
..with XP look-alikes. Yeah, OK, I can dream, can't I?
"Cock Up Your Beaver" does not mean what you think. This sig is intended to clog filters and annoy do-gooders
For the business users still running XP, I don't see them flocking to buy new Windows 8 hardware. They are still on XP because either the software they run won't run on anything else, or they are small businesses that don't have an IT budget. As long as the hardware and software works, they aren't going to go out and buy new systems.
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Hippie Logger Jock
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"Pulling the rug out from under 40-50% of our clients should really shake things up and boost sales"
This signature is false.
Just because XP reaches its official "end of life" doesn't mean that people will throw out their computer and go buy a new one. For most people- and businesses too - as long as existing units still get the job done there is no compelling reason to buy a new computer. The fact that Win 8 is crap is also a factor.
Win7 is the new XP.
The better question is how many people did not buy a new PC precisely because Windows 8?
to Windows 7 this year.
Windows 8 was just too much of a learning curve for them even if it were the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Windows 7 is similar enough to XP that I can sit them down at it and not have to reteach them everything. I can even make it look
like XP If I really need to. I cant do that with 8 unless I buy add-ons.
Also Windows 7 pro includes an XP virtual machine...so why bother with 8?
Windows 7 is barely 3 years old its not like its going anywhere anytime soon.
Must be incredibly popular with chiropractors.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
So unless MS relents and lets people get some boxes with Win7
"Pro" versions of Windows 8 come with downgrade rights. Many businesses have been "buying" Windows 8 Pro but installing Windows 7.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
I don't know if this is any sort of indication about the popularity of Windows 8, but I got my daughter a new Acer laptop with Windows 8 for a graduation present. She asked my to put Ubuntu on instead. Interestingly, she prefers Mate to the default Unity desktop. Aside: boots in seconds because I put /boot and /usr on the SSD drive. Very nice.
In a band? Use WheresTheGig for free.
Given the XP holdouts clearly don't like Microsoft's current offerings, and Mac is growing faster in percentage terms, and Linux appears to be finally getting somewhere - i don't think these XP holdouts will be migrating to another Windows box any time soon.
If the XP holdouts still prefer XP to Win7, they certainly are not going to gravitate to Mac or Linux. (Well some will, but the bulk are just too afraid of change to do anything that drastic.)
XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
If a big virus hits that exploits a security hole that's unpatched, SOMEONE will offer a patch. I'm 99.999% certain. Why? Because regardless of Microsoft's wishes for XP to just go away, there are still too many people using it every single day (many of whom aren't even computer savvy enough to be able to tell you for sure which version of Windows they're actually using). A serious virus infection would #1, make Microsoft look really bad if they take a stance of "Too bad... we can't fix it.", and #2 would likely put entire networks at risk with the infected files getting copied onto shared drives on servers, uploaded to cloud shared storage locations, and more. It's quite possible such an infection would need an unpatched XP machine to secretly get installed in the first place, but newer OS's would have problems too if the users open attached files sent from the originally infected XP boxes.
If Microsoft stubbornly refused, some 3rd. party computer security firm would seize on the opportunity to get 15 minutes of fame with a free patch they'd circulate.
Whatever you call it, people were excited about Windows XP because of what it brought to the consumer desktop, and people actually upgraded to it on purpose. Same for Win2k vs. Windows NT on the corporate side. Which upgrades since have not been dreaded? Windows 7, which is just Windows Vista Unfucked Edition. How about on the server side? I haven't had to go there in a while, thankfully. Regardless, only a few delusional cases clung to Windows 3.1, or Windows 95, but Windows XP is fairly compelling even today with its low resource requirements and unparalleled compatibility.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"