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While Microsoft is still pushing Vista hard, the company is quietly allowing
PC makers to offer a "downgrade" option to buyers that get machines with the
new operating system but want to switch to Windows XP.
The program applies only to Windows Vista Business and Ultimate versions,
and it is up to PC makers to decide how, if at all, they want to make XP
available. Fujitsu has been among the most aggressive, starting last month
to include an XP disc in the box with its laptops and tablets.
"That's going to help out small- and medium-size businesses," Fujitsu
marketing manager Brandon Farris told CNET News.com.
Hewlett-Packard also started a program in August for many of its business
models. "For business desktops, workstations and select business notebooks
and tablet PCs, customers can configure their systems to include the XP Pro
restore disc for little or no charge," HP spokeswoman Tiffany Smith said in
an e-mail. She said it was too soon to gauge how high customer interest has
been. "Since we've only been offering (it) for about a month, we don't
really have anything to share on demand."

A Microsoft representative confirmed there were changes made over the summer
to make it easier for customers to downgrade to XP. Under Microsoft's
licensing terms for Vista, buyers of Vista Business and Vista Ultimate
Edition have always had the right to downgrade to XP, but in practice this
could be challenging. In June, Microsoft changed its practices to allow
computer makers that sell pre-activated Vista machines to order Windows XP
discs that could be included inside the box with PCs, or shipped to
customers without requiring additional activation. Microsoft noted in a
statement that neither it nor the PC makers are "obligated to supply earlier
versions to end users under the end user licensing terms."
While there is always resistance by some to move to a new operating system,
there appears to be particularly strong demand, especially from businesses,
to stick with XP.
One of the challenges, for both businesses and consumers are Vista's hefty
graphics and memory needs.
Lenovo, for its part, has details for its downgrade program on its IBM
ThinkPad Web site.
Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden said Dell has been offering businesses that
have a Premier Page set up the option to order systems with XP, Vista or
Vista with XP downgrade rights. There is no extra charge for the downgrade
rights.
"We've been offering it and we're still offering it," she said.
HP, Gateway and others also still sell machines with XP on them, nearly a
year after Microsoft first started offering Vista to businesses. Vista went
on sale broadly to consumers in January, at which point XP largely
disappeared from retail shelves.
However, demand for XP has remained. In April, Dell brought XP back as an
option even on consumer PCs.
There is an issue, though, over how long PC makers can keep selling machines
with Windows XP as the preloaded operating system. Microsoft is requiring
large PC makers to stop selling XP-based systems as of January 31, though
some PC makers would like to sell XP machines for longer.
"We're all lobbying for it," Farris said.