100,000 customers tell Microsoft to save XP
Executive Editor Galen Gruman explains the real intent of InfoWorld's Save Windows XP campaign and the stakes involved for business and home users. Will Microsoft listen to 100,000 customers? ...

Test Center:
Death match: Windows Vista versus XP
Does Vista have what it takes to knock XP off the enterprise desktop? Not by our scorecard. Point by point and blow by blow, we offer 10 reasons enterprises can skip Windows Vista and stick with XP. ...

Enterprise Desktop blog
Despite SP1, Vista is still slower than XP
So here I am, sitting in the main terminal at Dubai International, killing time during my six-hour layover by sifting through the headlines surrounding the release Vista SP1. Over at a competitor's site, two prominent bloggers are really going at it, posting contradictory benchmark results that show Vista to be either a) on par with Windows XP or b) much slower than XP on the same hardware. ...

News Feature:
Keep Windows XP until 2009, analysts tell Microsoft
Microsoft should keep Windows XP available until at least 2009, not end the majority of sales on June 30 as currently planned, said analysts at Gartner and The Burton Group. “A good rule of thumb in any OS transition is that you have to have the original and new products available for at least two years to handle customer [migration] needs,” said Richard Jones, a Burton Group vice president and service director. But Microsoft gave customers just 11 months in its original plan, in which new XP licenses would have ended on Dec. 31, and even the additional six months that Microsoft granted when it changed the date to June 30 is not enough, he said. ...

News:
Microsoft responds to "Save XP" petition
A Microsoft spokesperson today acknowledged InfoWorld's petition effort asking the company to keep Windows XP for sale indefinitely rather than drop the popular OS from most sales outlets on June 30 as planned. ...

News:
75,000 demand Microsoft keep Windows XP going
More than 75,000 people have signed InfoWorld’s “Save XP” petition in the three weeks since it was launched — many with passionate, often emotional pleas to not be forced to make a change. On June 30, Microsoft plans to stop making new licenses to Windows XP available through most outlets, though business users and some consumers will be able to “downgrade” to XP after that date under certain circumstances. InfoWorld expects to present the petition to Microsoft when it has collected 100,000 signatures. ...

Test Center analysis:
Vista adoption secrets
Vista adoption in business has been slow (and at this writing more than 75,000 people have signed InfoWorld’s petition asking Microsoft to keep Windows XP available indefinitely). Nonetheless, thousands of businesses worldwide have already adopted Vista. ...

News Feature:
Why people hate Vista
You rarely hear about a new OS causing people to panic. But IT consultant Scott Pam says that's exactly what his small-business clients are doing when they install Windows Vista on new PCs and run smack into compatibility or usability roadblocks. ...

Enterprise Windows blog:
Save XP? Why bother?
I'd love to defend Microsoft Vista against Mac, Linux, or some obscure OS -- but instead, I find myself defending it against Windows XP. That's because all I hear is warring from within the Microsoft community about how unfair it is that they will one day have to stop using XP -- a sentiment perpetuated by InfoWorld's Save Windows XP campaign. First off, no one is forcing you to do anything. ...
» Follow-up blog on readers' response

Notes from the Field blog:
Happy birthday, Vista?
It hardly seems possible, but it was one year ago today that Microsoft foisted Windows Vista onto a wary world. (OK -- OEMs and enterprises had Vista foisted on them in November 2006, but January was the "big launch" for most of us). But instead of the "Wow Starts Now," Jan. 30, 2007 was more like the "When Started Then": When will drivers be available for legacy hardware? When will compatible software show up? ...

News Feature:
How to get Windows XP after June 30
If new Windows XP licenses come to a screeching halt after June 30 as currently planned, what can IT do to get more XP seats? The answer depends on your licensing arrangement with Microsoft. The short answer for most users, though, is that Microsoft will let people with Vista Business or Ultimate "downgrade" to Windows XP Pro under specific circumstances. Here is InfoWorld's guide to how you can get new XP licenses after Microsoft officially pulls the plug. ...

News Feature:
Why save XP? Readers speak out
InfoWorld's petition asking Microsoft not to discontinue Windows XP after June 30 has garnered more than 65,000 signatures since Jan. 14. And with those signatures have come thousands of reader comments that reveal why many IT organizations are up in arms about the June 30 deadline to retire XP. ...

InfoWorld Daily Podcast:
Save XP petition drive (MP3)
Special Edition: InfoWorld kicks off its Save XP campaign. IT, thus far, has been underwhelmed by Windows Vista, citing a lack of benefits to upgrading. So join the fight to keep XP alive beyond Microsoft's stated June 30 timeframe for ceasing shrinkwrap and OEM sales. ...

Sustainable IT blog:
Linux a greener alternative to a forced Vista move?
If you read my blog yesterday, you noticed my entry about Microsoft's move to retire XP and effectively force Windows shops into a wasteful migration to Vista. ...

Sustainable IT blog:
Retiring XP means wasteful upgrades to Vista-capable PCs
Every so often, an organization has to refresh some or all of its users' PCs. Perhaps the sales team's laptops are suffering from wear and tear and need replacing. Maybe the finance department requires more powerful desktops to run a newly purchased, resource-intensive, business-critical app. ...

Editor's blog:
Save Windows XP
I vividly remember the first time I used Windows XP. My first reaction: Ugh, these primary colors make Windows look like kid's software. Then I started using it. ...