Who’s Awake, and Who Is Dreaming?

This morning, I was reading an article in ComputerWorld, by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols (perhaps I’d be taken more seriously if I had a hyphenate surname – hmmm), where he gives reasons why many will switch from Windows XP to Windows 7, and why Microsoft really doesn’t have to do much to force it – the sheep will follow.

What was more interesting than the article, however, was some of the responses to it.

Who cares about Microsoft
Submitted by Anonymous on April 3, 2009 - 9:02 P.M.

Microsoft will never get another penny of my money. I switched to Ubuntu about 3 months ago. I love it. I’d never go back. Ubuntu does everything I’ve ever wanted. For office ….. Open Office works great. Browser of choice )Firefox). Evolution mail client …… gnome GUI. Tons of software and applications to choose from. It’s fast. staple and problem free. I use Ubuntu 8.04. It’s great.

No big deal, many people might write something like this – I suppose I could have written it at sometime along my journey. (but I did not)

Then a bit further down the comments page.

We’re using XP until 2014 at least
Submitted by Justin on April 2, 2009 - 1:33 A.M.

@Steven J. Vaughn
“One way or another, you’re going to be moving to a new operating system sometime soon.”

No. We’ve decided to stick with XP until at least 2014. There’s no upgrade or compatibility incentive for us to move. Moving in four years time will be just as painful as moving this year. We have other business priorities and we’ve got more than enough XP licenses to replace Vista and/or 7 on any new machine we buy.

This is how I feel. I will certainly buy a copy of 7, unless I’m fortunate enough to get one free from Microsoft, but I know that it will be popular, and I will have to know it to be able to do my job. Still, on other machines of mine, Windows 2003 (configured as Workstation) or XP Pro is what you’ll find.

But then there is a response from one of the sheep, no doubt being led by the Microsoft hype and FUD -

That seems a bit risky…
Submitted by Anonymous on April 2, 2009 - 10:26 P.M.

That seems a bit risky… many unpatched exploits may be found and I will guarantee you that Microsoft will not be support you in a year or two…

Apparently this gentleman has never heard of antivirus, anti-malware, firewalls, and, last but not least, common sense.

And the reply from online -

Have you ever tried to get
Submitted by Justin on April 3, 2009 - 2:36 P.M.

Have you ever tried to get support from Microsoft for anything non-trivial, to get something from them that only they can provide?

MS doesn’t support us, it never has in 20 years. So its support isn’t worth anything to us and we have nothing to lose by continuing to use XP to make money. Computer, component and non-MS software manufacturers will support XP long into the future.

Who knows how long Windows will last. But I have no doubt that XP will go down in computer history as the most resilient and enduring version of Windows because it just works and works well.

Now many will say that this is reactionary, and stubborn. Perhaps it is. But I think it shows the type of enlightened view that more and more people are taking these days.

It is this type of person, who is not familiar with his or her OS at the binary level, but knows more than many about how to get the most from it, who will decide to move away from what Microsoft offers, unless the direction changes. It won’t be a change done in the manner of a petulant child, but a rational decision made over time, with much forethought.

Those are the customers Microsoft should be worrying about – right now.

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