Microsoft Will Produce Windows XP Until 2020 And Windows 7 For Tablets And Smartphones
Microsoft said it will continue to sell licenses for Windows XP until 2020, despite the release of newer and more powerful version of Windows 7. Thus, customers who already have Windows 7 may give up this system to return to XP until January 2020, tells CNN Money, if they want this system back in their computers. Originally, Microsoft planned to offer this option until April 2010, but they extended the period immediately until October 2011. But now, the company extended the offer for sale whose life cycle will be until 2020.
According to market analysts, Microsoft has made the decision not to chase business customers, many of whom jumped from another operating system, Vista. Extending the period means that Windows XP will have a lifespan of 19 years, four times longer than most computers. Also, who decides to move to Windows XP at the end of the period in 2020, would be like those who currently use Windows XP would quit in July to return to Windows 3.1, on sale in 1992.
The change will be possible only for those who bought Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate versions. According to analysts, most of the big companies will move from Windows XP to Windows 7 in the next 12-18 months. A Microsoft official recently confirmed at a conference about the Windows operating system that 74% of company’s computers are still using Windows XP.
Tamm Reller, Corporate VP of Windows, Microsoft, acknowledged that although Windows XP is still working for some computers, there are also two other new operating systems, Windows Vista and Windows 7, but most companies have refused to upgrade their computers. “The average age of a PC in a company is older than ever, for 4.4 years” Reller said.
The extraordinary longevity of Windows XP operating system reflects the reluctance of companies to switch to Windows 7, although the system combines the best of XP and Vista. Microsoft announced it will offer support for XP operating system by 2020. Home users were more open to Windows 7. Microsoft sold 150 million licenses to date. Microsoft expects to sell 350 million licenses by the end of this year.
If you thought that Microsoft will allow Apple to become better than them with their iPad, this is not going to happen, because the Redmond company thinks not only at software, but also at hardware products. In contrast, they started the production of the operating system Windows 7 that is going to be used for tablets.
Microsoft’s voice, Steve Ballmer, has confirmed that this year will be released a few tablets with Windows 7 and the next year will appear others on market. For that, Microsoft announced the collaboration with several major manufacturers, including Sony, Samsung, Toshiba, Dell and Acer. It seems, for now, HP has been on the sidelines. Steve Ballmer said that the tablet segment is crucial and that Microsoft will invest significant resources in this area. Now the next question arises: if it is so important, why so late coming on the market? Why was Apple the one which opened the way and not Microsoft? And generally, why Microsoft is moving so hard lately, like in all areas?
General manager of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer announced a few months the company will launch a tablet PC with operating system Windows 7, thus entering into competition with iPad, launched this spring by Apple. “Over the coming months will see a series of tablet PCs with operating system Windows 7 that I think you’ll find impressive,” said Steve Ballmer, adding that the devices will be produced in partnership with Dell, Samsung and Toshiba.
The head of Microsoft’s announcement is viewed with skepticism by IT professionals worldwide after the company failed to launch a similar device in partnership with IT equipment manufacturer HP. Since the beginning, many competitors have entered the race Tablet PC market: Dell, Samsung, Asus and Nokia and others. According to IDC, shipments of iPad’s and similar devices will increase from 7.6 million to 46 million between 2010 and 2014.
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, said during an annual conference with business partners that the new range of devices are very impressive, according to Daily Telegraph. “One of the most important thing we will do this year in the category of smart devices is to go ahead with Windows 7-based tablets and phones, Microsoft’s chief said, adding that this is an area “tremendously important for the company”. Asus, Dell, Samsung, Toshiba and Sony are among the producers of electronic tablets that will make Windows, Ballmer said. He also said that they will be of various kinds and sizes, with or without keyboard keystrokes.
Also, Windows is preparing to release the Windows mobile Phone in July this year, which Ballmer said that “people will be proud to have them.” After a slow start, a number of increasingly more PC users have started using gradually by 64-bit version of Windows 7. Just nine months after launch, about 46% of PC users around the world use 64-bit version of the latest Microsoft operating system, according to data provided by the company in June of this year.
Compared to Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows 7 number of sales represents a figure recorded significantly higher, since only 11% of PCs use the 64-bit Vista after more than three years of release. Also, according to market research, a number of increasingly large PC manufacturers are choosing to deliver computers with Windows 7 installed. In addition, most PCs have processors that are capable of running on 64-bit applications that require extra memory. The advantage of 64-bit is that it can offer more memory, compared with 32-bit systems. The latter have a maximum of only 4GB RAM.
Most processors manufacturers have guessed well that this will be the trend, so most of the chips on the market can now run on 64-bit OS. In addition, RAM prices have dropped in recent years, so now the PCs abound in memory.
