Many of you have heard that Microsoft will no longer allow Windows XP to be sold after June 30, 2008, and that, due to this restriction, Dell will no longer offer systems with Windows XP skus after June 18 to allow for shipping times. Some of you may have seen my blog post (or other articles) about Dell’s plan to offer a way for customers to continue to get preinstalled versions of XP after the Microsoft cutoff through our Windows Vista Downgrade Service (also called Windows Vista Business Bonus or Windows Vista Ultimate Bonus).
I realize this may sound confusing – is XP going away in June or not?
Dell cannot ship a system with Windows XP as the primary operating system (what we refer to as Windows XP SKUs) after June 30. We will not take orders for Windows XP systems after June 18 to ensure we comply with the Microsoft deadline.
Dell will still offer a way for its customers who aren’t quite ready to make the transition to Vista to keep using Windows XP Professional, through our Windows Vista Downgrade Service. What this means is that when you purchase either Windows Vista Business Bonus or Windows Vista Ultimate Bonus (Downgrade Service), you are actually purchasing a license for Windows Vista, but Dell is exercising your Downgrade Rights for you and shipping you a system with XP Professional installed along with media for both XP Professional and Vista so that you can install Vista when ready to transition.
This also applies to consumer systems as explained by Anne Camden’s blog post on Your Blog. So, if you want to have XP Home on your Dell computer, you will need to purchase by June 18.
For more information on the end of Windows XP and the Windows Vista Downgrade Service, please see www.dell.com/dellhasanswers