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1640

Continue to supply Windows XP drivers for all systems.

1640 points posted to Operating Systems, XPS products by audiofree 07/10/07

Let’s face it, Vista regardless of how Microsoft is trying to possession is not what all customers want. Some of us want to continue to use XP, it’s a lighter faster OS that does what we need. Please continue to support XP drivers at least. I want to buy one of the new 1420s or 1520s but can’t because not all the drivers are available. If you’re not going to sell the laptops with and XP option at least make the drivers available so those of us that want to install XP on our systems can.

sprefournier
07/10/07		 That is so true. Vista isn't made for notebook.
mkmaster78
07/10/07		 Vista is definately for notebooks, especially with all the new power management features.
davmcn
07/10/07		 I like your idea and on plus hath of the stuff on vista doesn't work just to let you know....like a lack of drivers........Slowness You need at least 1GB-2GB to make it run smoothly like Xp can run with 512Mb and go really fast....thanks for your suggestions...
jmxz
07/10/07		 Vista is made for the 8GB RAM notebook with 200 Watt GPUs (to run aero) market. :)
rotthund
07/10/07		 Howabout Win3.1, 95, 98, SE and ME drivers too? :-)
davmcn
07/10/07		 Maybe does anyone still use those? i know lots of people that love Win 2000
jmxz
07/10/07		 davmcn: "lots of people that love Win 2000"

And organizations. Notably the City of Munich just bought a lot of used Win2000 licenses earlier this year.
davmcn
07/10/07		 they mostly use Win 2000 for servers on dell's and for business or Xp Not Vista.....Not to be mean to Microsoft. but Vista Doesn't Live up to standard for Business.....
winoffice
07/10/07		 How about offering dual-boots of Vista and XP, and drivers for both, Vista drivers being on Vista's partition, and XP drivers being on XP's partition?

Even if only XP is selected, offer Vista drivers also, so that when it will be absolutely necessary to use Vista, the drivers are ready for installation.
davmcn
07/10/07		 ummm...good idea u know what i thought of something while i read your thingy about the drivers what about if they could have a driver that is compatible with Vista and Xp so we are not using up X2 amount of Room on HDD.? Anyone?
jmxz
07/10/07		 @winoffice: "How about offering dual-boots of Vista and XP, and drivers for both, Vista drivers being on Vista's partition, and XP drivers being on XP's partition?"

Nice Idea. If it's not a dupe already, it's probably worth submitting.
icediver
07/10/07		 rotthund said: "Howabout Win3.1, 95, 98, SE and ME drivers too? :-)"

Many a true word is spoken in jest.
I knbow a lot of people who live well below the poverty line and are running Pentium and PII systems with Win 95, Win98 and Win98SE installed. These people can't afford to upgrade their hardware or OS. Continued support from OEMs like Dell and (particularly!) Microsoft would be a good thing.

The reality is that if these people want to run a supported OS, their only choices are Open source OSes like Linux or *BSD. I try to encourage them to change for security reasons, but very few are open to the idea.
christopher25
07/23/07		 Icediver ... let's assume you 16'y old .. yes? Some people use computers for work ! We need STABLE system (Vista isn't). "Security reasons ..." LOL WinXp Prof is quite mature (safe) product. Do U like that every bit of data you crunch (video, music) is "filtered" by system for "DRM bit" inside... now you know what your system is doing in the background....
icediver
08/16/07		 Christopher25: I have been a computer user for over 20 years. 16 y old? I don't think so.
"Some people use computers for work..." My post wasn't discussing those people.
"WinXP is quite mature (safe)..." Again, my post was discussing people for whom XP is not an option, because they have older hardware that they can't afford to upgrade.
It seems quite clear that you did not read my post or, at least, you did not understand it.
Try again.
davmcn
08/17/07		 Ok..
loster
Apr 6		 Couldn't agree more.

It seems like Dell is in cahoots with Big MS over this - and are keen to push consumers up that nasty upgrade path whether it is demanded or not (and it seems pretty plain that it isn't).

It is the only thing stopping me from investing in a new Inspiron. I simply do not want to use Vista on my new laptop. I would have formatted and installed XP straight away but with the lack of driver / app support this is made into a hassle (but not impossible?). An otherwise no brainer purchase made ambiguous.

Ultimately Dell, like all computing companies, have an interest in keeping the consumer cycle trundling forth. MS has hit a hurdle with Vista in that XP is still good enough for most, and more enjoyable/useful/speedier for many. How can they keep us buying essentially the same thing this time?

I really hope Dell would release the XP drivers, but they probably see it as counter-productive for their future income. Hence it won't happen. Hope lies in the proles... that is, other sources who could "hack" the drivers, or in trying to fudge earlier drivers onto newer systems, or in simply losing functionality. Or in simply NOT buying laptops from Dell... for a while anyway... until we have actually been forced to move on.
mfinnan101
Apr 29		 Dell's XP service is lacking.
I have helped lots of people install XP on the XPS M1530 through DCF. It is still in demand, and quite frankly I can't blame people.
maddog
Apr 30		 Dell has sold out its customers by limiting XP (various flavors) to only it's more expensive and its low powered desktops. I recently bought an XPS420 and learned to hate Vista quickly even with that quad core processor and 4 GB RAM! I was able to load up XP Pro with most drivers within 6 hours. Getting the drivers was the biggest obstacle but it can be done if one is persistent. I won't even think about buying a laptop until this Vista sham is resolved. SHAME ON YOU DELL FOR SELLING OUT TO MICROSOFT!!!
winoffice
Apr 30		 @jmxz: "Vista is made for the 8GB RAM notebook with 200 Watt GPUs (to run aero) market. :)"

Not true. Vista runs pretty well on my Inspiron XPS Generation 2 notebook, and it has 1 GB of RAM (not 8), and it is not 200 watts (its AC adapter is 130 watts. nor is its video card 200 watts, if the notebook as a whole is only 130). And the video card is able to run Aero.
krystian
May 9		 First of all, excuse my English. I'm not very good with it.

This is the discussion I was looking for today. All your opinions are great. Here is mine.

The operating systems based on Unix/Linux are the most stable, but what people use is Windows because that is what they see all around (in the college, office and home). Win XP is stable after it has all the hotfixes, a good security protection (antivirus, antispyware, etc...) and a good user.

For me Vista is just a Microsoft's strategy to make more money and to do not lose field in the battle against others companies like Apple.
Imagine what could happen if MS was not built Vista. The normal users would be fine with 1gb of ram and a 2.0ghz single-core cpu. The hardware market was going to lose money because a lot of people were not going to upgrade their computers. So, for me it is obvious that what MS thinks first is "money" then "customers needs". Well, that is what mosts companies think.

The idea of having drivers for all operating systems is something that I thought when I spent couple days downgrading a customer's computer from vista to xp, just because of the drivers. I have heard a lot of people saying they hate vista and they want xp. But their are afraid to spend money trying to installing it, because there are not drivers compatible for it. There are not drivers compatible with xp because MS wants to force every body to use Vista. And Vista needs more capacities, so that means do an upgrade or buy a new computer.

I'm trying to make a driver repository website in which people will have the opportunity to download drivers for all operating systems totally for free. Well I know there are a bunch of drivers and a lot of operating systems too. But imagine a website where you could find the drivers you are looking for even thou your computer is not designed for the OS you want to use. Those couple of days or hours you spend looking for the drivers on the net are going to be couple minutes. That is what I'm trying, but you know everybody wants money and the computers manufactures are not going to give me the rights to use any of their stuff. I think it would be good for they because their customers are going to have the possibility to use any OS even thou their computers are designed for vista.

Drivers are something that should be free and compatible with any OS. When you pay over $500 for a computer is because you want to do whatever you wish, no matter which OS you have to use to do it.
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