I recently bought an ACER 5580WXMi preloaded with Vista Home Premium. After
spending a few days with it I find I much prefer XP. Is it possible for me to
downgrade from Vista to XP for FREE?

Depends !

Usually your OEM OS is tied to your computer.

However, if you have a XP disc, and you were to
format the hard drive and do a clean install of XP, I should think
it would work.
Having it validated is another question !

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
"leepophseng" wrote:
[color=blue]
> I recently bought an ACER 5580WXMi preloaded with Vista Home Premium. After
> spending a few days with it I find I much prefer XP. Is it possible for me to
> downgrade from Vista to XP for FREE?[/color]

"leepophseng" <leepophseng@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:FE29083B-F141-4DCF-8D63-A8C7A6FE505D@microsoft.com...[color=blue]
>I recently bought an ACER 5580WXMi preloaded with Vista Home Premium. After
> spending a few days with it I find I much prefer XP. Is it possible for me
> to
> downgrade from Vista to XP for FREE?[/color]

Read the End User License Agreement (EULA) for your specific copy of Windows
Vista (just run winver and click the link to view the license).
The Home Premium license does NOT have downgrade rights.
If you wish to use Windows XP on that system then you will either have to
purchase a copy or contact your OEM and discuss this with them

--
Mike Brannigan

leepophseng wrote:[color=blue]
> I recently bought an ACER 5580WXMi preloaded with Vista Home Premium. After
> spending a few days with it I find I much prefer XP. Is it possible for me to
> downgrade from Vista to XP for FREE?[/color]

Nope. As far as I'm aware, the only license which has downgrade rights
is the Volume License users who have the Software Assurance option.

David

"David Hearn" <david.hearn@newsgroup.nospam> wrote in message
news:53vvfiF1uircoU2@mid.individual.net...[color=blue]
> leepophseng wrote:[color=green]
>> I recently bought an ACER 5580WXMi preloaded with Vista Home Premium.
>> After spending a few days with it I find I much prefer XP. Is it possible
>> for me to downgrade from Vista to XP for FREE?[/color]
>
> Nope. As far as I'm aware, the only license which has downgrade rights is
> the Volume License users who have the Software Assurance option.
>
> David[/color]

Actually it is also allowed under Vista Ultimate too (both retail and OEM) -
it is covered in the EULA

--
Mike Brannigan

In article <FE29083B-F141-4DCF-8D63-A8C7A6FE505D@microsoft.com>,
leepophseng says...[color=blue]
> I recently bought an ACER 5580WXMi preloaded with Vista Home Premium. After
> spending a few days with it I find I much prefer XP. Is it possible for me to
> downgrade from Vista to XP for FREE?
>[/color]
No.

--
Conor

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright
until you hear them speak.........

No doubt you felt the same way when moving from Win 9x to XP way back when..
I would suggest that you give it more of a chance before taking the
retrograde step of returning to XP..


"leepophseng" <leepophseng@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:FE29083B-F141-4DCF-8D63-A8C7A6FE505D@microsoft.com...[color=blue]
>I recently bought an ACER 5580WXMi preloaded with Vista Home Premium. After
> spending a few days with it I find I much prefer XP. Is it possible for me
> to
> downgrade from Vista to XP for FREE?[/color]

--


Mike Hall
MS MVP Windows Shell/User
[url]http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/[/url]

Mike Brannigan wrote:[color=blue]
> "David Hearn" <david.hearn@newsgroup.nospam> wrote in message
> news:53vvfiF1uircoU2@mid.individual.net...[color=green]
>> leepophseng wrote:[color=darkred]
>>> I recently bought an ACER 5580WXMi preloaded with Vista Home Premium.
>>> After spending a few days with it I find I much prefer XP. Is it
>>> possible for me to downgrade from Vista to XP for FREE?[/color]
>>
>> Nope. As far as I'm aware, the only license which has downgrade
>> rights is the Volume License users who have the Software Assurance
>> option.
>>
>> David[/color]
>
> Actually it is also allowed under Vista Ultimate too (both retail and
> OEM) - it is covered in the EULA[/color]

Home Basic, Home Premium and Ultimate share the same EULA (with bits
specific to each edition covered)

[url]http://download.microsoft.com/documents/useterms/Windows%20Vista_Home%20Premium_English_d16c019b-fa71-4fc9-a51d-a0621bddb153.pdf[/url]

I see nothing in that EULA that states downgrade rights are provided.

However, looking at
[url]http://download.microsoft.com/download/d/2/3/d23b9533-169d-4996-b198-7b9d3fe15611/downgrade_chart.doc[/url]

I see:

OEM license of Systems Software:
"Rights to OEM versions of systems software are granted in the OEM
License Terms. The OEM License Terms for most OEM versions of systems
software do not grant downgrade rights. The exception is the OEM License
Terms for the Windows® XP Professional operating system and the Windows
Vista™ Business and Windows Vista Ultimate operating systems, which
grant downgrade rights. See the full text of the OEM License Terms for
the specific downgrade rights."

FPP (Full Packaged Product - aka Retail) Systems Software:
"Downgrade rights are not granted under FPP system licenses."

So, I was wrong. Downgrade rights exist for OEM copies of Vista
Business and Vista Ultimate - no downgrade rights exist for retail products.

David

I too was in error - no downgrade rights on Retail but they are there on
Ultimate OEM in the EULA.

--
Mike Brannigan
"David Hearn" <david.hearn@newsgroup.nospam> wrote in message
news:540dp9F1ub5p4U1@mid.individual.net...[color=blue]
> Mike Brannigan wrote:[color=green]
>> "David Hearn" <david.hearn@newsgroup.nospam> wrote in message
>> news:53vvfiF1uircoU2@mid.individual.net...[color=darkred]
>>> leepophseng wrote:
>>>> I recently bought an ACER 5580WXMi preloaded with Vista Home Premium.
>>>> After spending a few days with it I find I much prefer XP. Is it
>>>> possible for me to downgrade from Vista to XP for FREE?
>>>
>>> Nope. As far as I'm aware, the only license which has downgrade rights
>>> is the Volume License users who have the Software Assurance option.
>>>
>>> David[/color]
>>
>> Actually it is also allowed under Vista Ultimate too (both retail and
>> OEM) - it is covered in the EULA[/color]
>
> Home Basic, Home Premium and Ultimate share the same EULA (with bits
> specific to each edition covered)
>
> [url]http://download.microsoft.com/documents/useterms/Windows%20Vista_Home%20Premium_English_d16c019b-fa71-4fc9-a51d-a0621bddb153.pdf[/url]
>
> I see nothing in that EULA that states downgrade rights are provided.
>
> However, looking at
> [url]http://download.microsoft.com/download/d/2/3/d23b9533-169d-4996-b198-7b9d3fe15611/downgrade_chart.doc[/url]
>
> I see:
>
> OEM license of Systems Software:
> "Rights to OEM versions of systems software are granted in the OEM License
> Terms. The OEM License Terms for most OEM versions of systems software do
> not grant downgrade rights. The exception is the OEM License Terms for the
> Windows® XP Professional operating system and the Windows Vista™ Business
> and Windows Vista Ultimate operating systems, which grant downgrade
> rights. See the full text of the OEM License Terms for the specific
> downgrade rights."
>
> FPP (Full Packaged Product - aka Retail) Systems Software:
> "Downgrade rights are not granted under FPP system licenses."
>
> So, I was wrong. Downgrade rights exist for OEM copies of Vista Business
> and Vista Ultimate - no downgrade rights exist for retail products.
>
> David[/color]