Consumers petition Microsoft for XP survival

by Stevie Smith - Apr 15 2008, 12:42

Although American software giant Microsoft Corp. is seemingly focused on shining the consumer spotlight on its Windows Vista operating system, staunch fans of the longstanding Windows XP operating system (OS) are showing a definite drive to keep XP alive despite the supposed advantages of Vista.

More pointedly, Windows XP may be a six-year-old OS that didn’t exactly have a glorious following prior to the arrival of Vista, but Microsoft’s announcement that XP will be officially retired from retail in June has led to a sudden outpouring of emotion for the greying software.

As XP shuffles steadily towards the yawning chasm, the Associated Press reports that Microsoft is finding its Redmond-based ankles repeatedly chewed upon by consumers through pro-XP blog coverage, cartoons, and online petitions.

Along with their pleading and begging, XP fans left unmoved by the arrival of Vista and its recent SP1 (service pack 1) upgrade, maintain that XP is still a better option when gauged against Vista’s considerable hardware demands, persistent software and device incompatibility, and the inconvenience of its frequent security pop-ups.

“It sort of hit us that, wait a minute, XP will be gone as of June 30. What are we going to do?” said technology journalist Galen Gruman regarding the growing sense of panic in the XP-using community. “If no one does something, it’s going to be gone.”

With that in mind, Gruman duly created a ‘Save XP’ online petition in January, which has thus-far gathered in excess of 100,000 supporting signatures from those who want to see XP remain as an operating system option until Microsoft retails its next Windows OS (presently known only as “Windows 7”) in around 2010-2011.

The petition’s accompanying comments section has seen visitors claiming that they will use an option in Vista Ultimate or Vista Business to perform a downgrade from Vista to XP on any new computer they purchase after Microsoft carries out the upcoming retirement. Some have even threatened to drop Microsoft Windows for the Apple OS or an open-source Linux alternative rather than change from XP to Vista.

While Microsoft has acknowledged its awareness of the Gruman petition, the corporation has betrayed no signs that it will abandon the plan to remove XP from retail shelves, even though it has stated it will “continue to be guided by feedback we hear from partners and customers about what makes sense based on their needs.”

It would seem that more than 100,000 signatories on a single petition is not sufficient consumer noise to seep through the fingers that Microsoft currently has clasped firmly over its ears.

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