WINDOWS 7

Vista is looking more and more like the Edsel of the computer industry. Presumably as a result of slow uptake by corporations and individual users, Microsoft confirmed that it will allow OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) and smaller-scale "system builders" to pay as late as May 30, 2009, for copies of XP ordered by Jan. 31.

Combine this news with reports that Windows 7 may ship as early as mid-2009, and it looks like Microsoft is ready to relegate Vista to the binary scrap heap.

It has been reported that vendors of low-budget PCs, such as the tiny netbooks, were already being allowed to sell new systems based on XP through June 30, 2010, or one year after Windows 7 ships — whichever came first. Microsoft's new policy now gives a reprieve to builders of mainstream computers, and to end users who want to buy systems running Windows XP, not Vista, indefinitely or until Windows 7 is a proven commodity.

The official release of Beta 1 of Windows 7 to the public has already occurred. If all goes well with the remaining testing, indications are that the final, RTM (Released To Manufacturing) version will be available as early as August. Lending support to this theory is the fact that the end-user license agreement of Beta 1, like all recent pre-release versions of Windows 7, states that the beta software will expire Aug. 1, 2009.

Early reviews of the Windows 7 beta variously describe the new operating system as being not much different from Vista or representing an unspectacular-but-solid improvement. If Windows 7 turns out to have better performance and reliability than Vista, as some reviewers believe, the OS may gain a measure of relieved acceptance from end users after only a few months on the market.

The extended availability of XP on new PCs will gladden the hearts of many Windows users. For a few unfortunates, however, the XP option is coming at great cost. It has been reported that Dell has gradually been inflating its surcharge for "downgrading" a PC from Vista to XP. The bite rose last June from U.S. $20 to $50, then spiked in October to $100, and now is a whopping $150.

The fact that Dell's customers appear to be willing to pay this amount, or more, to avoid Vista may be the greatest indictment of Microsoft's unloved OS.

The reality is that the Redmond software giant has been forced by popular opinion to provide customers with a Vista-free option — an extended life for XP — more than two years after Vista's rollout. Depending on your point of view, this concession can be interpreted negatively as an act of desperation or more positively as a burst of marketing acumen on the company's part.

The truth, as usual, is likely somewhere in between.

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