johnk: Microsoft seemed delighted to be a supplier for the new version of the Eee (referred to by Lashiec above) which will have pre-installed XP as an option -- and that's not even due out for a month or two (I'll be first in the queue to buy one).
Never made that connection, but that's a good point. Like
cthorpe, many of the commenters on that article said that not allowing consumers to buy a legal copy of XP would finally push them into trying GNU/Linux. And I certainly agree with
Lashiec, who says that Microsoft will have two coexisting OSes once Win7 arrives, since they've committed to supporting Vista until 2014, I think.
Meanwhile, Joe Wilcox outlines
10 Ways Microsoft Can Make Windows 7 Lucky:
01. Windows 7 has to be a whole lot better than Windows Vista. Better doesn't mean tons more features.
02. Windows 7 must generate a compelling hardware refresh cycle. DVDs and CDs share one important similarity: They delivered such a good experience that people willingly repurchased the music and movies they already owned, but in the new formats. People squawked about Vista's hefty hardware requirements, but that's only because there weren't obvious upgrade benefits.
Microsoft's fundamental development philosophy should be: one operating system to rule them all.
03. Windows 7 should go back to basics. The browser has got to come out of the operating system.
04. Call it Windows 7 Core. Nos. 1-3 are predicated on Microsoft stripping Windows 7 down to the kernel and building it back up in modular fashion. Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7 share common code heritage. Microsoft must bring the role concept from Windows Server 2008 to Windows 7.
05. Windows 7 should be familiar, and must remind people of something else, something better. Successful products share several attributes; one of the most important: They take a familiar motif, extend it and allow people to do something they wished they could do but couldn't before.
06. One Windows 7 version is enough. From the Windows 7 Core, OEMs should be able to customize the operating system for specific hardware and usage roles.
07. Put the user experience before bean-counter, monetary considerations. Microsoft won't fess up, so I'll do it for the company. Vista's SKU strategy was solely for the benefit of the company. From a bottom-line business perspective, the strategy worked. But at a greater cost: ticked-off customers and a damaged Windows brand. Microsoft can get there by adopting Nos. 1-6, particularly No. 6. One version is more than enough.
08. Windows 7 must give much, through sync. Synchronization is the other killer UI, and it's essential to fulfilling Ozzie's mesh vision. Windows 7 needs a synchronization engine bound to the IP stack.
09. Windows Vista Capable means backward compatibility. It's time Microsoft put all that virtualization technology to good use. The company should radically rearchitect the operating system, while using virtualization to provide backward compatibility to Windows Vista and XP. Then the company can put all those Windows Vista Capable stickers to good use, on Windows 7 PCs.
10. Windows 7 security features must increase usability by decreasing complexity.
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Hey, not fair — IE has had more new versions in two years than it had in the previous five! Here's the latest on this build and where they're at: "It also includes previously released updates to the latest versions of some system components, as well as functionality that make it easier for enterprises to co-manage both Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista PCs within same corporate environment."
(Isn't it time to put together a 24-hour Sirius/XM channel for guys like him, and these dudes?)